INDONESIA’S outbound operators are looking forward to the arrival of Japan National Tourism Organization’s (JNTO) Jakarta office, which is set to open in spring 2013, making it the NTO’s third office in South-east Asia after Singapore and Thailand.
Tara Tour managing director, Paulus Sofyan Gazali, said: “Having an office in Jakarta makes it easier for us to communicate with an NTO in developing products. We hope, however, that JNTO will continue cooperating with consultants in the long run and not leave us when the market booms, the way some other NTOs have.”
Bayu Buana Travel Services general manager – leisure, Yunita Widjaja, said: “Indonesians like to see new things and are eager for new experiences. They just need to be made aware of the products. To achieve this, JNTO needs to do consumer awareness promotions and at the same time, create attractive products with travel consultants like us.”
JNTO Indonesia will be a full-fledged office, working in collaboration with outbound operators but also launching B2C activities, such as organising travel fairs in major Indonesian cities, said Motonari Adachi, executive director of JNTO Singapore, which oversees marketing in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.
Detailed programmes and strategies are being finalised, including the introduction of Muslim tour programmes, which is also currently in the works for the Malaysian market, he added. Adachi expects Indonesian traffic to Japan to increase by over 50 per cent next year.
JNTO president, Ryoichi Matsuyama, said: “Indonesia is a market with a lot of potential for Japan. We have seen the number of arrivals to Japan increasing, and with Indonesia’s growing middle class, there is a big opportunity to develop the market further.”
