TravTalk India Online Magazine
While India ranks number five in terms of overall visitor arrivals for Indonesia, Indian travellers pushed it to number two when it came to Bali. That too without any direct flight. Ni Made Ayu Marthini, Deputy Minister for Marketing – Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy, Indonesia, is hopeful that direct flights may push India up to number one.
Hazel Jain
Ni Made Ayu Marthini, Deputy Minister for Marketing – Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy, Indonesia, was in Mumbai recently to meet with the Indian travel trade on the sidelines of the Indonesia Tourism Sales Mission. Its theme was ‘Exploring New Destinations Beyond Bali’ and had a delegation of 40 sellers from Indonesia. Marthini is happy with the numbers so far. “Indian tourist arrival numbers have been growing over the past year with a 230 per cent increase since the pandemic. This year, we have a target of 4,35,000 Indian tourists. So far, from January to July, the numbers are already touching 2,45,000. Of course, when compared with pre-COVID numbers we still have a long way to go. In the past, we have reached a peak of 6,60,000. So we are not yet on par with pre-COVID levels,” she says.
She adds that India ranks number five for Indonesia in terms of tourist numbers. But for Bali, India is number two, only after Australia.
“My aim is to bring India higher up in the ranks. Bali is, of course, on top of the mind, but Indian travellers don’t know much beyond Bali. We are here to introduce five new destinations to the trade,” she said.
Better air connections
Better air connectivity will be a game-changer for Indonesia, she says. “Until recently, there were no direct flights between the two countries. Yet, India is number two international source market for Bali! So, with a direct air connectivity, we believe the numbers will hopefully double. We now have Indigo flying Mumbai-Jakarta direct. The good news is that Indonesian airline Batik Air already flies Chennai to Medan. We are now working towards getting another Indian airline to fly to Indonesia directly, possibly Vistara,” the minister adds.
Weddings a big focus
Indonesia is also keen to attract weddings from India. “Bali is known as a high-end wedding destination and we would like to keep it that way. But we have more destinations that can be perfect for Indian weddings. There is also a lot of queries around wellness in Indonesia, so we do want to push that,” she says.
Sharing some new developments in Jakarta, she informs that the city has changed tremendously over the past five years. “It now has better rapid transport, and we are going to inaugurate a new bullet train that will run 400 kmph from Jakarta to Bandung. This will reduce the travel time from 2.5 hours to just 40 minutes. Bandung is known for its culinary delights, for its heritage, and shopping. Now since COVID, Indian travellers are seeking experiences. To cater to this, the ministry has created a package on rural tourism that includes village visits. We are targeting families for this which can even stay with the locals in the village and experience the rural life,” she adds.
The minister also inaugurated a Wonderful Indonesia Corner at VFS facility in Mumbai. “We have a partnership with VFS for this corner. More than 4,000 people visit VFS facility and we want to promote the destination to them. Here, they can ask questions and enquire about Indonesia.”
Indians do not require visa to enter Indonesia. It is visa on arrival. The country also offers e-VOA facility whereby tourists can apply for their VOA online before they arrive. Five new destinations you should promote
- Lake Toba, a large natural lake in North Sumatra, and the biggest volcanic lake in the world
- Borobudur Temple, a big Buddhist temple located in central Java
- sland of Lombok, located next to Bali, which also has the MotoGP race track, and this will become an annual event
- Nusa Tenggara Timur, which has the iconic Komodo dragon in Komodo island
- Likupang, an eco-tourism destination located in the north tip of North Sulawesi
