TRAVEL demand between the Middle East and Indonesia is on the rise, and hotels, tour operators and travel agents are all keen to take advantage of the burgeoning business.
Jakarta-based Citra Netratama Tours and Travel president director, Herna Danuningrat, said flights to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia were constantly being filled by Indonesian umrah pilgrims, and that the numbers were still growing.
“There is almost no low season for this now. The Jakarta-Jeddah returns, which were usually around US$900 on economy-class, have now increased to US$1,173. Seats are not easy to get.”
Indo Journey business development director Anton Johanes said Middle Eastern interest in Indonesia was growing, not only in terms of leisure travel, but also with MICE. “They don’t only travel to Jakarta, Puncak and Bandung, but have included Bali,” he said.
Aston Marina Jakarta executive assistant manager, Dini Artha, said: “We had 12,000 room-nights from the Middle East last year. The first three months this year, we saw an increase of 30 per cent over the same period last year.
Middle Eastern arrivals to Indonesia last year grew more than 30 per cent over 2009, according to Indonesia’s Central Board of Statistics.
