How is the condition of Indonesian Tourism after the pandemic? What are some governmental measures that boost Indonesian tourism?

Source: PlanetWare

Indonesia is a very unique destination located in the South East Asian region. It is known for its islands and beautiful landscapes. Being the world’s fourth populous nation, Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world and consists of five major islands with 30 smaller groups, in which there are a total of 17,508 islands and 6000 are inhabited.

Given its wide range of attractions and activities, the Indonesian government had hoped to use this industry to further promote economic growth. Tourism provided in Indonesia with valuable foreign exchange inflows as well as investments and capital in tourism-related businesses. For the local economy, tourism usually brought developments in aspects of infrastructure as well as creating job opportunities. 

The Overview of the Indonesia Tourism Industry During the Pandemic

Indonesian tourism has been experiencing a delay especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With travel restrictions implemented to restrict mobility, international travel has been put in a halt and led to negative quarterly growth of tourism in Indonesia, especially the island of Bali being particularly affected by the pandemic. Foreign tourist arrival decreased by almost 85% affecting the island’s hospitality, food and beverages sector as the hardest.

From the end of 2020, the condition of the tourism industry has been declining due to the fact that the government has opened several places for visiting. According to experts, based on several indicators, it is seen that the end of 2021 could be a better period for tourism since there is a growth in the tourism industry. 

This growth could be seen by the development of the MotoGP Mandalika Circuit in Nusa Tenggara Barat, Indonesia. Because of the development of this circuit, NTB received a bunch of benefits which included economic growth, increased consumption, and worldwide accredited events, thus helping Indonesia revive the tourism industry, since the Indonesian government had planned other international events that could be held in the Mandalika Circuit. 

To revive the country’s economy, the Indonesian government has reopened several places for international tourists. However, restrictions were taken in order to reduce the transmission of the virus. On the other hand, the Indonesian government had been heavily marketing promoting domestic tourism to boost the industry. Although the number of domestic trips acquired has surpassed international visitors, domestic tourists only spend on half of what international visitors in Indonesia spend. Thus, the uptake from domestic tourism couldn’t compensate for the losses incurred from the decrease in international tourists. 

Industries Who Have Potential in Expanding Their Business To Indonesia

1. Hospitality Industry

The Indonesian hotel industry is highly developed, with all manners of accommodation from five-star hotels to modest guest houses. Most of these hotels are located in Bali and Jakarta, which is Indonesia’s leading destination for leisure travel. With the significant expansion in the supply of hotels, there has been much commentary on the likely impact on hotel asset prices over the next couple of years, and may depend on the rise in the number of domestic and international tourists.

2. Food and Beverages Industry

The food and beverage sector accounts for 50% of tourism jobs which forecasts 44% of new job openings. Foreing investments of USD 298 million were poured into the F&B sector in Q1 of 2020. In 2020, the food and beverage markets amount to IDR 3.6 trillion and will contribute 36.4% towards Indonesia’s GDP. 

Future Prospects of the Indonesian Tourism Industry

Given its location and opportunities for landscape, the tourism of Indonesia is seen to be continuously growing in the future. Even though there is a lack of tourism infrastructure in Indonesia, the government has already implemented programs that could help boost Indonesian tourism which include supporting facilities to improve connectivity and accessibility to tourist destinations. In Addition, deregulation investment policies have been offered to lure investors to invest their money in the tourism sector in Indonesia. With this issue in hand, tourism is projected to be the largest contributor of foreign exchange earnings, worth IDR 280 trillion. 

Enter Indonesia’s Tourism Industry with BRIGHT Indonesia 

Given the abundance of tourism locations that Indonesia provide, the tourism industry is an interesting industry to look at, especially with its future prospects.

BRIGHT Indonesia is an ideal business partner for you. We will assist you on the ground, including virtual assistants during the mission, logistical planning, and detailed communication. It can cause your company to focus on developing partnership cooperation rather than the hassles of the business trip.

BRIGHT Indonesia provides several services such as Market Insight Research, Business Partnership Engagement, Management and Strategy Consulting, and Foreign Direct Investment. The services will help your business to:

1. Assist you in expanding and developing your business by identification of potential partners.
2. Secure the agreement between client companies and future Indonesian business partners by providing a list of potentially suitable partners, arranging business meetings, and acting as a liaison.
3. Supporting our foreign client companies from the private sector with developing corporate or business unit strategies or helping your company from public sector organizations with public policy.
4. Link client companies both from the private and public sectors in global foreign direct investment (FDI) through training and assisting your company in entering FDI source countries to gather investment for your company’s local markets.

For more information, email info@brightindonesia.net.

*This article is written by Aurellea Dashaliva