INDONESIA’s tourism ministry has stepped up efforts to market Indonesia to travellers from India and improve flight connectivity between the two countries.
With a hefty US$9 million marketing budget, which is ten times that of the previous year, the ministry hopes to record 350,000 (20 per cent more) Indian arrivals in 2016.
“Last year we had just five promotional activities in India. But we plan to organise 20 promotional activities in India in 2016,” said Vinsensius Jemadu, director for Asia-Pacific tourism promotion, Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia.
The ministry plans to deploy print and electronic advertising, a five-city sales mission covering New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata, as well as direct promotions in shopping malls in Mumbai and New Delhi.
Also planned for this year are Indonesian cultural festivals, including the Wonderful Indonesia festival in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, and a culinary festival in Kolkata and New Delhi.
The ministry is also angling for greater flight connectivity and has an agreement already in place for Garuda Indonesia to start flying directly to Mumbai later this year. Garuda is likely to also start direct flights to New Delhi and Chennai.
