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Indonesia eyes China, India, Russia to recover tourism
The tourism and transportation ministries have received a directive from the President to focus on capitalizing on strong demand among travelers in the three countries to visit Indonesia.
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Workers clean a Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft bearing the national flag-carrier’s livery on Jan. 21, 2022 at the Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) AeroAsia at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has instructed the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry and the Transportation Ministry to focus specifically on attracting tourists from China, India and Russia.
“Our data shows that demand to visit Indonesia from these three countries is very high, but [direct] flights are limited,” Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said on Monday.
Sandiaga went on to explain that no direct flights currently connected India or Russia with Indonesia. Options from China were also limited, though the Lion Air Group provided one weekly charter flight from Shenzhen to Denpasar, Bali.
Read also: Bali welcomes first flight from mainland China
Lion Air was expected to serve regular flights to and from China by April or May, said the ministry’s marketing undersecretary, Ni Made Ayu Marthini.
“The Chinese government will review the flight arrangement this February. Industry [players] are of course hoping these flights will be regular,” Ni Made said on Monday.
She explained that Beijing had “no problem” with airlines that held permits and flight slots prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning it was possible that those airlines would resume direct flights in the foreseeable future, “probably by spring”.
