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hen Beatrix Ginting, 25, hiked Mount Semeru in Malang, East Java, earlier in May, she could not reach the top because it was overcrowded. In Bali in the same week, the Jakarta-based digital agency worker met at least 10 acquaintances by chance.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said, referring to how local travelers are cramming domestic travel destinations.

Beatrix, who took some days off from work to spend a week travelling in early May, found herself among 6.9 million domestic airline passengers that month, the highest monthly figure in history, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Indonesia is witnessing a domestic travel boom as more people enter the middle-income segment and with aggressive marketing efforts by the Tourism Ministry, industry players say.

Places gaining in popularity include the world’s largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba, in North Sumatra, and Labuan Bajo, the fishing town at the western end of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara, which affords access to the popular destinations of Komodo Island and Rica Island.

The two are included in the government’s top 10 emerging tourist destinations to be developed and promoted, along with Mandalika, Mount Bromo, Morotai, Tanjung Lesung, Thousand Islands, Wakatobi, Belitung and Yogyakarta.

Travel booking website Traveloka saw bookings for flights and hotels double in May from the previous month, with the most popular destinations being Denpasar, Surabaya, Padang, Yogyakarta and Makassar.

“This new trend shows that people are opening up to the option of air transportation as the price becomes increasingly competitive and as tickets are getting easier to book online,” Traveloka communications executive Busyra Oryza said, attributing the domestic travel trend to people’s growing purchasing power.

The number of middle-income and affluent consumers is projected to reach 141 million by 2020 from 88 million in 2014, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group. With at least Rp 50 million (US$3,808) in personal assets, this demographic group is jacking up spending in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Those who earn Rp 5 million to Rp 10 million per month have begun travelling by plane, Sriwijaya Air Group senior corporate communications manager Agus Soedjono said.

“We regard that social economic class our [customer] segment, even though they are mostly ‘swingers’ as they have no loyalty to any one airline,” he said, adding that people from that segment opted for domestic rather than international destinations due to lower costs and easier travel.

“The segment for overseas destinations is very specific compared to domestic spots. To travel abroad, people need money, passports or even visas. It is certainly simpler for them to go to local destinations,” Agus added.

Garuda Indonesia vice president of corporate communications Benny Siga Butarbutar said Bali was still top of the list for travelers because it had the best infrastructure of all domestic tourist destinations.

“The problem [for our domestic tourism destinations] is that the infrastructure is still lacking,” he added, referring especially to the government’s top 10 priority tourist destinations, a notion echoed by local travelers and industry players.

Access to Lake Toba, visited by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo not long ago, just recently improved with the launch of Silangit Airport, from where travelers can reach the lake in one hour. That compares to the previous four-hour trip from Kuala Namu International Airport. A new toll road connecting Tebing Tinggi and Parapat is also in the pipeline to quicken the journey from North Sumatra’s capital city of Medan to Lake Toba, which usually takes up to six hours by road.

Meanwhile, the West Manggarai administration in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is working to improve infrastructure in Labuan Bajo. NTT Tourism and Creative Economy Agency head Marius Ardu Jelamu said the government had started the restoration of roads, airports and ports around Labuan Bajo.

To motivate local governments to promote their tourism potential and improve infrastructure near local destinations, the Tourism Ministry will conduct an award ceremony called the Anugerah Pesona Indonesia 2016 in September this year.