Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) Asia Pacific Territory director Paul Tosh Tanner stated that while tourists had held back from visiting Indonesia’s diving spots, particularly in Bali, due to border closures, health and safety played a substantial role in their future travel intentions.

“People will come to Indonesia once they know they are safe. Before, people were looking for adventures and risk-taking, now, families and independent travelers are looking for something safe,” Tanner said during a broadcast event called Indonesia Dive Tourism Market Updates 2020 on Monday.

Diving tourism is one of the pulls for foreign visitors to Indonesia. Almost 30 percent of the destinations included in the government’s 10 priority destinations are marine and diving tourism spots, according to the Tourism Ministry. Bali and Raja Ampat in West Papua are among the country's notable diving spots.

According to a recent survey conducted by global diving marketing and research firm Cline, the diving tourism industry had seen a 56.8 percent year-on-year (yoy) drop in gross revenue in the first half of 2020, pressured by the global health crisis.

Indonesia’s foreign visits also dipped 68.17 percent to 3.41 million visits between January and August this year, compared to 10.71 million visitors in the same period last year, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data.

Tanner said the global association was currently focusing on marketing campaigns and providing diving tour providers with online training to help them prepare for the projected post-COVID-19 pandemic tourism boom.

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