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View all search resultsTourism, hospitality players to convene to explore sector's potential
The inaugural event, to be held on May 12 at The Langham, Jakarta, is arranged to reflect Indonesia’s unique tourism realities while addressing the evolving demands of travelers, brands and capital.
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Tourists watch the sunrise during a Sunrise Borobudur tour at the Borobudur temple tourist park in Magelang, Central Java, on Jan. 1, 2026. The temple is one of five super priority tourism destinations in Indonesia. (Antara/Anis Efizudin)
T
he tourism and hospitality sector will convene in a new national industry platform where hotel owners, operators, investors and senior decision-makers from across the archipelago will examine the forces shaping Indonesia’s tourism economy at a time of renewed growth and increasing complexity.
The inaugural event, to be held on May 12 at The Langham, Jakarta, is arranged to reflect Indonesia’s unique tourism realities, its scale, cultural depth and extraordinary diversity of destinations, while addressing the evolving demands of travelers, brands and capital, the organizers said in a press release recently.
“The agenda opens with an assessment of Indonesia’s investment climate and tourism outlook for 2026, providing economic context for the discussions that follow,” the organizers said.
The event will also focus on luxury hospitality, where expectations are shifting rapidly and brands are being challenged to move beyond traditional definitions of premium service.
Dubbed Indonesia Tourism Xchange (ITX) 2026, the event is being organized by Horwath HTL, C9 Hotelworks, STR, QUO Global, Greenview and Delivering Asia. Also supporting the event is Langham Hospitality Group, as well as the Jakarta Hotels Association, the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) and the Bali Hotels Association.
The Tourism Ministry has set a target of 16 million to 17 million foreign visitors to visit Indonesia in 2026. There were 15.38 million foreign visitors in 2025, the figure represented a 10.8 percent increase from the previous year’s 13.88 million.
The ministry also expects 1.18 billion trips to be made by domestic tourists this year. Some 1.2 billion trips were made by domestic tourists in 2025, increasing by 17.55 percent from the 1.02 billion recorded in 2024.
Langham Hospitality Group regional vice president operations Asia, Sherona Shng, is scheduled to explore how luxury in Indonesia is increasingly shaped by cultural intelligence, personalization and emotional connection, rather than scale or spectacle alone.
“Luxury travelers coming to Indonesia are not looking for replicas of global hotels. They are seeking meaning, context and a sense of place,” Shng said, as quoted by the release.
Hotel performance and demand dynamics form a central pillar of the program, with a close examination of how Indonesia’s hotels are trading across resort and urban markets, including the performance of upper-scale and luxury assets.
Horwath HTL director Asia Pacific, Matt Gebbie, is slated to address Indonesia’s tourism prospects for 2026, focusing on where growth is sustainable and where caution is required.
“Indonesia’s opportunity is not simply growth, it is smart growth. Luxury hotels, in particular, face higher expectations on performance, capital returns and differentiation,” Gebbie said in the release.
Beyond hotels, ITX 2026 will also examine how ownership structures and development strategies are evolving. A dedicated discussion on standalone branded residences will reflect the rising importance of residential-led hospitality across Indonesia’s resort and lifestyle destinations, where brands are increasingly used to drive long-term value.
The government is promoting more tourism destinations as priority destinations in addition to the already well-known Bali, such as Yogyakarta, Labuan Bajo, Lake Toba, Borobudur temple, Raja Ampat, Tana Toraja and Wakatobi.
