Hundreds of people swarmed to the Gandaria City Mall in South Jakarta in the early hours of Friday, eager to get their hands on cheap flight tickets at the start of the Singapore Airlines-BCA (SIA-BCA) biannual travel fair.

Anticipating the huge crowd, 59-year-old bank commissioner Ahmad Fajarprana had asked his driver to go there at 4 a.m. Unfortunately, he ended up getting only number 285 in the queue.

“I came here at 7 a.m. to replace my driver [to buy tickets]. Imagine the first person in the line today! He or she must have been waiting here since midnight,” Ahmad told The Jakarta Post while waiting to receive his cashback deal.

Ahmad was among the first 350 customers entitled to get cashback deals.

During the three-day event, SIA-BCA cardholders buying a return trip for more than Rp 5 million (US$375) can obtain up to Rp 1.5 million cashback. Meanwhile, those purchasing a round trip for less than Rp 5 million can still benefit from a Rp 700,000 cashback.

“I bought six tickets to Hong Kong for my family holiday. Two return trip tickets with cashback costs Rp 2.1 million each and the rests cost Rp 2.8 million each,” he said.

Weakness in people’s purchasing power does not appear to be dampening Indonesians’ interest in traveling.

Another visitor, Ira, 28, said she maintained her annual travel budget at around Rp 150 million this year.

“With promotions, everything looks so cheap. Today, I can buy a flight to Amsterdam for 50 percent less than the normal fare,” said Ira, a housewife who frequently travels overseas.

Indonesians’ outbound trips numbered 7 million in 2016, according to the report “MasterCard Future of Outbound Travel in Asia Pacific.”

The figure is predicted to increase by an average of 8.6 percent per year to 10.6 million trips by 2021.

Indonesia’s fast growing outbound tourism market may be a boon for Singapore Airlines, which is struggling to compete with Asian low-cost carriers and Middle Eastern airlines. SIA posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of last year, AFP reported.

The Singapore Airlines-BCA travel fair in Jakarta, the second this year, runs simultaneously with a similar event held at Lippo Mall Kuta in Bali.

SIA public relations manager Glory Henriette said enthusiasm among Indonesian travelers for the fair was undiminished, even though it was held for the second time. China, Singapore, Japan, Korea and Europe remained top destinations for the locals, she added.

“People who frequently travel to Europe, such as Paris or London, for example, usually want to explore new destinations. That’s why we also provide cheap flight deals to Dusseldorf and Stockholm,” she told reporters after a press conference.

SIA’s offers include a Jakarta-Singapore round trip ticket offered at Rp 900,000. Round trips to other places, such as Paris and Los Angeles, cost only Rp 7.5 million and Rp 9.5 million.

Commercial vice president at Indonesia’s major travel agent Dwidaya Tour, Hendri Yapto, said China had become an increasingly popular destination this year, as it offered relatively new attractions that people could visit with their families.

“Many people want to travel to Shanghai because they want to visit Disneyland. If they go there, they usually also visit other cities in China,” he said.

China also offers attractive destinations that lure travelers, such as Zhangjiajie in Central China’s Hunan province, said Bayu Buana corporate business general manager Liza Andriani.

Zhangjiajie has inspired the movie setting for James Cameron’s famous Avatar. Apart from that, it also hosts the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge, the world’s longest and highest glass-bottom bridge, which hangs over steep cliffs.

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