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span class="caption">New attractions: Tourists stroll along the famous Charles Bridge in Prague in June 2015. The number of visitors from Asian countries, including Indonesia, to European countries has increased in recent years.(JP/Primastuti Handayani)

Eva Simatupang skipped her lunch break on Thursday to visit a newly opened travel fair in a South Jakarta shopping mall to hunt for the best tour package deal for her next overseas holiday.

The middle-aged woman, who works for a state-owned company, said she had visited many countries, including those in Asia and Europe, mostly as an individual traveler. This year, she is considering a 10-day tour package to Turkey, with an option to travel in a group.

“I visited Turkey once but didn’t have enough time to visit cities other than Istanbul. On my next visit, I want to explore every inch of the country,” Eva said, adding that she had scheduled the trip for late April or early May.

Indonesia has seen an increasing number of outbound travelers over the past several years, a trend mainly attributed to the growing middle class in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

Last year, over 8 million Indonesian tourists visited various overseas destinations, an increase from 5 million in 2009, according to data from the Tourism Ministry.

While regional destinations such as Singapore and Malaysia still manage to lure most of these travelers, more and more Indonesians are now willing to dig deeper into their pockets to enjoy a traveling experience outside the continent, a trend that also benefits local travel companies offering overseas tour packages.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Thursday, Indonesia Tour and Travel Agency Association (ASITA) chairman Asnawi Bahar said that although around 50 percent of Indonesian outbound travelers preferred to holiday in other ASEAN countries, that number had declined over the past years.

He estimated that last year, 20 percent of the country’s outbound travelers had opted to visit European countries as their getaway, a significant jump from the single-digit percentage in the last decade.

The remaining 30 percent, meanwhile, went to various countries, with China, Japan and Australia among the major destinations, he said.

Asnawi attributed the shifting trends to a rising demand from Indonesian tourists who were looking for “inner peace” in their traveling experience.

“In many European cities, Indonesians can enjoy not just the physical objects, but the experience of living in a safe and orderly environment, something they rarely find in their home country,” he said.

“Those who have money will have no problem paying for this.”

A seven-day tour package to Europe costs an Indonesian traveler at least Rp 40 million (US$3,040), a hefty sum for most people in the country where gross domestic product per capita stands at around $3,500.

The search for so-called inner peace was also the reason behind the rising popularity of religious holiday packages, such as umrah (minor haj) and Holy Land packages among Indonesians, Asnawi said.

Tour and travel company Panorama Tours’ assistant vice president of product and market development Adi Pratama shared a similar view, saying that countries in Western Europe were still among the most-popular destinations among Indonesians compared with other parts of the continent and the US.

Other destinations that offer a unique experience, such as Iceland, home to many glaciers and ice caves, are also becoming more popular among travelers, he said.

“When will we be able see glaciers in the northern hemisphere again? Especially with the global warming issue these days,” he said.

With the June school holidays approaching, Central Jakarta resident David Jayaputra is also searching for the best destination for his family.

The 46-year-old entrepreneur and frequent traveler said he was considering taking his family to Australia, a trip that will cost him around Rp 40 million.

“Money is no problem as long as the destination can offer us peace and safety,” he said. (win)