Soekarno Hatta International Airport
INDONESIA wants China to be its top source market with a target of 2.1 million arrivals from there this year, comprising 1.7 million from mainland China, 275,000 from Taiwan and 125,000 from Hong Kong.
Traditionally, Singapore and Malaysia have been Indonesia’s biggest source of arrivals.
Speaking to the media in Jakarta this week, I Gde Pitana, deputy minister, International Tourism Marketing Development, said: “This is the first time we are targeting China arrivals to be higher than Singapore (with a target of 1.8 million) and Malaysia (at two million).”
In 2015, China contributed 1.4 million arrivals to Indonesia, while Singapore added 1.5 million and Malaysia 1.2 million.
Bali is the main destination of travellers from China with a growing number of chartered flights from secondary cities in China landing on the island.
Pitana said: “In February alone, a total of 200 chartered flights will land in Bali, with passengers expected to reach more than 50,000, the majority of which had arrived during the Chinese New Year week.”
Apart from the visa-free facilitation, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism is investing in branding, advertising and selling in China this year.
“Travellers from China seek information from the Internet. (Despite) a negative perception of Indonesia as an anti-China country on social media, we are going to invest on positive information on Baidu, which holds 80 per cent of the travel market share there,” added Pitana.
Other efforts to boost tourist footfall from China include increasing direct flights from secondary cities, introducing to them lesser-known destinations in Indonesia and boosting the number of Mandarin-speaking guides.
