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Ministry wants travel agencies to create 'New Bali' package tours
The Ministry of Tourism wants travel agents to come up with 10 new package tours that they will call the New Balis in order to entice international tourists to visit not only the Island of the Gods but also other cities of Indonesia.
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Tanah Lot in Bali is one of the island's most popular destinations. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Ministry of Tourism wants travel agents to come up with 10 new package tours that they will call the "New Balis" in order to entice international tourists to visit not only the Island of the Gods but also other places of Indonesia.
As the ministry enters the second year of its three-year business plan for the promotion of tourism outside Bali, the focus has shifted from branding, which was executed last year, to advertising. In 2018, the government aims to reach the selling stage.
“If branding is catching people’s attention, advertising aims to persuade people to come to Indonesia, while selling includes giving discounts and price cuts,’ said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.
“Both airlines and travel agents need to be creative. Perhaps they can do joint promotions or hard-selling promotions to attract tourists to come to Indonesia,” he added.
The ministry is also hoping that the promotion of less popular destinations will distribute air traffic more evenly, alleviating congestion at the airports serving Bali and Jakarta. “The air connectivity problem is an urgent matter for us, since most tourists come to Indonesia by airplane,” said Hiramsyah Sambudy Thaib, who heads a team at the Tourism Ministry tasked with accelerating the development of new tourism hot spots.
(Read also: In Bali, Trump’s planned six-star hotel risks angering the Gods)
The ten promoted destinations include Solo, Medan and Lombok, all of which have their own airport operating 24 hours a day. Airports that are currently being upgraded to accommodate large planes are Silangit Airport in North Sumatra and Leo Wattimena Airport in North Maluku.
“This is a huge opportunity for both airlines and travel agents. They can reverse the tour offerings from two days in Bali and one day in Lombok, for example, to one day in Bali and two days in Lombok, so that it won’t all be concentrated in Bali,” he added.
Construction work to extend the runway of Silangit Airport is slated to conclude by September. Meanwhile, Leo Wattimena Airport currently can only accommodate ATR 72 planes. An upgrade will enable the airport to accommodate Boeing 737s to attract tourists to Morotai. The runway extension is targeted for completion by June next year.
To support continued growth in air traffic, the government is in a process of deregulation to make it easier for airlines to add more flights to Indonesia. (asw)
