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Indonesian firms net Rp 65.9 billion in potential transactions at travel expo
Indonesian enterprises have recorded Rp 65
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span>Indonesian enterprises have recorded Rp 65.9 billion (US$4.7 million) in potential sales at Travel Exchange (Travex), a business-to-business exhibition in Brunei Darussalam, as Indonesia moves to boost the tourism sector’s contribution to the economy.
Around 30 Indonesian exhibitors — tour operators, travel agents, hotels and resorts — booked potential deals with international buyers from 43 countries at Travex, which runs from Jan. 14 to 16 as part of the 2020 ASEAN Tourism Forum.
At Travex, potential buyers flocked Indonesia’s booth, which was decorated in Javanese style and offered free Indonesian coffee, traditional food, herbal drinks and traditional massage.
One potential buyer is a Greek travel agency whose managers are keen to explore Indonesia outside of Bali. The firm’s tour operator planning manager, Panos Kouros, said that, since Bali remains a top destination in Indonesia, he is trying to combine Bali with other destinations nearby, such as Lombok, Flores or Manado.
“We also have people who are looking for cultural tourism in Java, such as to see Borobudur. A lot of us also visit [Komodo Island], which is very popular, and Sulawesi” said Kouros. Indonesia was a popular destination for Greek travelers, along with other ASEAN countries like Thailand, he added.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration is pushing efforts to boost tourism’s contribution to the economy. The government is investing in five super-priority tourist destinations to increase tourist arrivals outside Bali, namely Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara, Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara and Likupang in North Sulawesi.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry also seized the opportunity of Travex to introduce Indonesia’s five super-priority tourist destinations to 43 international journalists attending the event. The ministry expects the effort to increase awareness about the destinations, dubbed the “new Balis”, among a global audience.
Frank Lim, representing a Canada-based tour operator that serves customers from both Canada and the United States, is also looking for products to offer from Indonesia other than Bali. He said clients often asked whether there was any new product or destination.
“So, I am trying to connect Bali and Borneo into one package and will see if this is possible. Borneo is an adventurous destination with its forest, so I think it’s going to be interesting,” said Lim, referring to the island that includes the Indonesian region of Kalimantan.
He is also looking into possibilities to connect a Brunei travel package with Kalimantan and Bali. Among ASEAN countries, Lim said, countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam were popular among Canadian and American tourists.
Kristina Butvile, marketing manager at a Lithuanian tour operator, said there was growing demand in Lithuania and in Europe as a whole to visit ASEAN countries, especially Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The cultural variety offered by the ASEAN region was a magnet for European tourists. In Indonesia, Bali was popular for honeymoons, she added.
Tourism in the ASEAN region has grown significantly over the past decade. In terms of foreign tourist arrivals, Thailand topped the list as the country welcomed 38.27 million visitors in 2018, followed by Malaysia with 25.83 million, Singapore with 18.5 million, Indonesia with 15.8 million and Vietnam with 15.5 million.
The region has seen consistent yearly increases in international arrivals. In 2019, there were 123 million international arrivals at all international airports in Southeast Asia, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year. Intra-ASEAN arrivals accounted for 37 percent of the total international arrivals.
This year, Travex counted 263 exhibitors from 10 ASEAN countries and 161 buyers. The exhibition is part of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, a regional effort to promote ASEAN as one tourist destination, involving tourism stakeholders from the ten member countries.
The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry’s undersecretary for marketing region I, Rizki Handayani, noted that, while the number of buyers at this year’s Travex was lower than last year’s, Indonesia wanted to explore a new segment of tourists: the big spenders.
“We do have a target, but targets are not solely about numbers. What we want from this year’s Travex is rather to explore a new segment, the segment with high spending characteristics, such as the corporates segment or long-stay tourists,” said Rizki.
Rizki said this was is in line with the ministry’s spirit to prioritize quality over quantity this year. The number of tourists or mass tourism was no longer the main focus of the ministry, which now focused more on higher-spending tourists.
