In an attempt to reconnect with the travel trade in the Eastern region of India, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia hosted Indonesia Sales Mission in Kolkata sometime on February 7.With the pandemic winding up, the world has opened up and Covid-19 protocols have been relaxed. Ni Made Ayu Marthini, Deputy Minister for Marketing, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Republic of Indonesia, explained, “We have drawn up a slew of strategies to lure Indian travellers. It’s not enough to go for one-time promotions of our destinations that have all opened up again. There are a plethora of novel destinations in and around Indonesia including Lombok and Sumatra. New-age travellers have a penchant to visit volcanic destinations like Sumatra and Bali. We have drawn up a calendar of events. There is F1 Powerboat Championship at Lake Toba in North Sumatra from February 24 to 26 in the current year. Sports events are quite powerful for boosting travel destinations. MotoGP will be held in Lombok in October, this year.”
The Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia is into providing options not only for leisure travellers but for all segments of tourists. Marthini said, “We have music, sports, dance festivals, and cultural events lined up in the. Upcoming period. Golf tournaments and marathon events are held in the country. We are also eyeing MICE groups from India. Introducing visa-on-arrival facility for Indian travellers has been our significant strategy since we want to make travel hassle-free. India features among our top five source markets. We have categorized 87 countries for providing visa-on-arrival facilities.”
Bali is not only a great destination for Indian travellers but has also emerged as a wedding destination. Marthini further said, “We are stressing on Borobudur in Central Java which has the largest Buddhist Stupa in the world. There are chartered flights for Indian travellers looking to fly down to the country. We are working on resuming direct flights from India to Indonesia.”
Yogyakarta International Airport was inaugurated during the pandemic outbreak in the country. Marthini added, “Nearly 2,63,000 Indian travellers visited the country last year and we are hoping to have around 5 lakh Indian tourists in the current period. We are expecting about 7.5 million global visitors this year. Australia contributes the most number of global visitors to the country.”
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