PANORAMA Destination has opened an office in Makassar, South Sulawesi and will soon open another in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. The expansion is to meet the growing inbound numbers to destinations beyond Java and Bali.
Panorama Destination managing director, Rocky Praputranto, said: “We used to have local agents in the destinations to handle our clients, but with the growing number of tourists to areas like Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Nusa Tenggara, we feel the need to have our presence there.”
According to Praputranto, improved accessibility and infrastructure, as well as growing awareness on the impact of tourism on the local economy, had resulted in burgeoning demand for tours outside of Java and Bali.
“The domestic networks of Indonesian airlines have improved a lot (compared to five to ten years ago), accommodation facilities are better in terms of quality and number of rooms,” he said.
“Besides, with more airlines connecting the secondary destinations to regional hubs like Singapore and Malaysia, visitors now have a greater variety of overland tours.”
With the launch of Garuda Indonesia’s Singapore-Makassar flights last month, travellers planning to visit Sulawesi no longer need to fly to Jakarta to catch a domestic connection to Makassar, Praputranto said.
Similarly, demand for Komodo Island has been on the rise over the last couple of years, prompting Panorama Destination to open the office in Labuan Bajo, which is the gateway to the island.
“Apart from Komodo, our office in Labuan Bajo will redevelop the Trans Flores and other East Nusa Tenggara islands, which were very popular in the 1990s among the European market,” he said.
