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More holidaymakers attracted to authentic local culture: Travel agents
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A farmer working in the rice fields. (Shutterstock/-)
F
oreign travel agents have been increasingly seeking to incorporate more authentic culture and local people's lives into holidaymakers’ trips.
Ian Garrit, director of Australia-based travel agent Venture Holidays, said that he wanted to introduce Bali beyond the southern parts such as Kuta, Legian and Seminyak to Australians visiting the island.
“The Australian market is dominated by Kuta, Legian and Seminyak, and many of the Australians are repeated guests who have done Ubud and the kecak dance and all of those things before,” he recently told The Jakarta Post in Bali.
Garrit pointed out that the holidaymakers usually just went to a hotel and rarely experienced anything outside the tourist areas in the southern part of Bali. Due to a lack of knowledge, they never visit other destinations beyond their comfort zone.
“Bali is seen as exotic, but for Europeans it’s a long way. For Australians it’s really close, you have promotional fares. The mindset is different for Australians,” Garrit said. “Because the access [to Bali from Australia] is fantastic, Bali is like our back garden. It is so close and convenient to go to.”
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Garrit wants to develop products for travel agents in Australia and sell more travel packages that include experiences in north Bali, island hopping and cultural events.
“We’re looking for [something] like yoga camps, extended cooking classes and more experiential exposure to Balinese cuisine. We’re also looking at some of the areas to the north where the European market is quite strong, but there is a lack of Australian market. We’re looking at expanding our products to Lombok and Gili, Borobudur or Komodo; trying to introduce cultural elements that are often lacking from Australian citizens to Bali,” he added.
Unlike Australians, Europeans are more into adventure and culture.
Siggi Neuhaus, general manager of Caraka Travelindo that focuses on selling Indonesian holiday packages to the European market, said that most Europeans were interested in exploring the archipelago.
“They're not coming to Indonesia like before and spending 14 days on the beach. The European market is going for more adventures and more into diving. As I am based in Makassar [in South Sulawesi], I see what’s going on; Bali is not out, it is a side product. They’re doing road trips, exploring Sumatra, combining their journey with other islands like Java and Sulawesi, then come to Bali in a resort, then go home. That’s the trend in the 1980s that we developed and that’s coming back now,” Neuhaus said.
(Read also: Indonesia set to welcome more holidaymakers from eastern Europe)
He said that he wanted to develop travel packages that offered different unique experiences to discover different sides of Indonesia such as taking holidaymakers to stay on boat trip in Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan where they can see orangutans, and staying at local homestay.
“Homestays are something that makes you really connect to the [local] people,” he said. “I see more people doing this: staying in [Balinese traditional village] Penglipuran, exploring paddy fields. It’s not that organized, but you jump into the local family's normal rhythm; that is what people like.” (kes)
