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Jakarta Post

Analyst: Tourism growth through digitalization

Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) show that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia rose by 12

Elisabeth Carolina (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, June 19, 2019

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Analyst: Tourism growth through digitalization

Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) show that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia rose by 12.6 percent to 15.8 million in 2018 from the figure recorded in the previous year. This number included border crossers (PLB) and special foreign tourists who went in and out of the border daily because they live around the border area. Indonesia’s tourist arrivals recorded an average year-to-year growth of 9.76 percent.

Based on the 2018 edition of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Tourism Highlights, Indonesia’s tourism grew in 2017 by 16.9 percent compared with 2016 and was the fourth-highest growth compared to other Southeast Asian countries after Vietnam, Myanmar and Brunei.

The top-five foreign tourist arrivals by nationality in 2018 were Malaysia, China, Singapore, Timor Leste and Australia. In 2017, Malaysia was in the top position, followed by China, Singapore, Australia and Timor Leste.

TripAdvisor named Bali the worldwide winner of the 2017 Travelers’ Choice award. This was followed by London, Paris, Rome, New York, Crete, Barcelona, Siem Reap, Prague and Phuket. This was the first time an Asian destination reached the top position in history from 418 extraordinary destinations around the world.

Bali is the destination with the best experiences for all types of tourists, be they natural, cultural or gastronomic experiences. Therefore, visitors are eager to share this with the world.

Global reviews and opinions in TripAdvisor have now passed 500 million, with travel planning and booking sites and applications receiving 290 posts every minute of every day. Bali has experienced steady growth year after year in user reviews in all three categories: accommodation (25 percent), attractions (38 percent) and restaurants (38 percent)–demonstrating ongoing global interest in the full spectrum of Bali’s travel deals.

TripAdvisor is an American travel and restaurant website company that shows hotel and restaurant reviews, accommodation bookings and other travel-related content.

In Bali, the most reviewed accommodation on TripAdvisor are Padma Resort Legian, Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa, and Melia Bali Indonesia; the most reviewed restaurants are Potato Head Beach Club, Ku De Ta and La Lucciola; and the most visited tourist attractions are the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, Bali Waterbom and Tanah Lot Temple. The main market source for Bali is China with interest in searching on TripAdvisor increasing by 73 percent year-on-year, followed by the Netherlands at 57 percent and India at 37 percent.

In 2019 the government expects foreign tourist arrivals to reach 20 million, up 26.5 percent from the previous 15.8 million, along with 275 million domestic tourists. Indonesia still continues to reform its tourism policy and develop tourism infrastructure and digital development. The 2017 Travelers’ Choice Award from TripAdvisor certainly supports efforts to achieve the tourist arrival target of 20 million and the branding of “Wonderful Indonesia”.

Regarding the measuring of the economic impact of TripAdvisor on Indonesia’s travel market, an Oxford Economics
study found that the breadth of TripAdvisor’s content, whether trusted consumer reviews or booking facilities, not only influenced travel decisions but also resulted in additional trips to Indonesia. In 2015, TripAdvisor produced 569,000 tourist trips, 2.5 million tourist nights, and US$853 million on tourism expenses.
This is evidence that TripAdvisor’s content is a causal factor in travel activities and has a positive correlation.

The report also reveals that TripAdvisor’s content gives tourists the confidence to choose properties based on reviews, ratings and photos from other travelers, rather than more traditional decision-making factors such as brand recognition or prior experience. This trend is especially beneficial for nonbrand businesses, allowing small and independent businesses to compete more on the same footing with larger brands that are better known internationally.

In addition to the awards from TripAdvisor, Indonesia also won the award of the World’s Best Halal Tourism 2019 from the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) with a score of 78, which surpassed 130 destinations worldwide. This standard is based on four strategic assessment criteria, namely access, communication, environment and services. Indonesia’s top position as the World’s Best Halal Tourism destination is expected to attract even more interest from international tourists, in line with this year’s target of 20 million foreign tourists, of which approximately 5 million or 25 percent are for halal tourism.

Digital technology provides opportunities for Indonesia’s tourism sector to manage businesses more effectively and efficiently. Moreover, almost 80 percent of tourists use the internet to find product information, places, prices and activities while traveling. However, many tourist businesses still have not optimized the use of digital technology, because it is considered complicated and costly.

The Tourism Ministry is now very helpful for tourism businesses with its e-tourism initiatives, as well as programs to accelerate the evolution of analog and conventional methods. The ministry has allocated 70 percent of its budget for digital promotion. E-tourism makes it easy to find information about accommodation, tours, destinations and events, as well as providing ease of payment and confirmation.

Behind this convenience there are still obstacles to Indonesia’s e-tourism, such as an uneven distribution of IT-based infrastructure, still minimal technology-based facilities, lack of access to data from providers and limited Wi-Fi access. The central and local governments must be able to cooperate in providing IT-based facilities and infrastructure, because now the internet is the new backbone for tourism promotion compared to conventional forms that can no longer be relied upon. The government has done its part, so now it is up to the people in the tourist businesses to make the best of these opportunities.

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