The Ministry of Tourism of Republic of Indonesia (MoTRI) recently organised a series of roadshows in India to tap the potential of this market. The destination organised sales Missions in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. In 2017, the destination witnessed 30 per cent growth from this market with close to 485,000 Indian visitations. Indonesia is now eyeing the 700,000 mark from India in 2018.
Speaking exclusively to T3, Nia Niscaya, Deputy Tourism Minister, Republic of Indonesia said, “India is a very important market for Indonesia. China is currently the fastest growing market for us with a growth of 40 per cent last year compared to 2016. India is the second fastest with a growth of 30 per cent. In terms of numbers, last year we welcomed 485,000 visitors from India. This year, we have a target of 700,000 travellers from India. From January to August 2018, according to our daily data we have already welcomed 365,000 travellers. We are looking to hit our target. In partnership with Badung Tourism Province, we are organising sales mission in eight cities in India, four under the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia and four under Badung Province. We have got a good response from this roadshow.”
For India market, the MoTRI has started a joint promotion with big names in the Indian tourism business and one of them is MakeMyTrip. As one of the largest travel portals of India, MakeMyTrip has been approached by the MoTRI to help increase footprints to Indonesia through advertisements and larger bouquet of travel products. With this move, the destination is expecting to add close to 120,000 Indian visits.
She further said, “We have cooperation with MakeMyTrip, Cox & Kings and other big agent. This is something which we have never done before in this market. This will further boost footfalls from India.”
Presently, Bali is the most popular destination in Indonesia amongst the Indian travellers. To further woo travellers to other destinations, Indonesia is promoting Bintan Island and Batam Island. “Bali is still the major destination for the India market. There is opportunity to promote other locations in Indonesia. Batam Island and Bintan Island are located closer to Singapore and there are a lot of connections from there. These are some new attractions for Indians beyond Bali. Jakarta is also very important for business and shopping. We are offering various packages and attractions in India during this roadshow. For Batam Island and Bintan Island, our Government has subsidised the ferry rates from Singapore. These destinations are also very competitively priced for this market,” Niscaya said.
Indonesia recently hosted the 18th Asian Games 2018, taking place in Jakarta and Palembang. The destination has created world-class sporting infrastructure and promoting these destinations as sports tourism attractions. “We have good sports infrastructure in Jakarta and Palembang and we will be promoting these destinations for sports tourism. We have the 18th Asian Games happening in these destinations. We will also be hosting various sporting events in Indonesia. Indian travellers come to Indonesia for beaches, culinary experience, spa, wedding and MICE at present. Sports tourism still needs to be developed in this market. We are now looking at niche market in India such as diving, snorkelling, adventure and the millennial travellers,” Niscaya added.
