Indonesia tourism ministry to target Indian tourists visiting MY and SG

Indonesia’s tourism ministry has plans to acquire 700,000 tourists from India. This is compared with 485,000 Indian tourists from the year before, a Jakarta Post report read.According to Nia Niscaya, marketing deputy at the tourism ministry, this will be done by targeting Indian tourists visiting Malaysia and Singapore. This was due to the limited number of direct flights between Indonesia and India, such as Garuda Indonesia’s direct flight from Mumbai to Denpasar.As such, the ministry recognises the need to work with others or use Malaysia and Singapore as hubs. Plans are currently in the pipeline to collaborate with both foreign and local agents to boost footfall of Indian tourists by enticing them to extend their holidays from Malaysia and Singapore to Indonesia.Marketing Interactive has reached out to the Indonesia tourism ministry for comment.The plans are in line with the ministry’s goal to welcome 17 million tourists from foreign countries this year. The past year has seen Indonesia’s tourism ministry ramping up its efforts to bolster tourist footfall. This includes plans to organise 180 tourism events in October last year, this extends to regions such as Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, United States and Africa regions.The ministry also revealed plans to implement promotional and marketing strategies to push the events, according to I Gde Pitana, the tourism ministry’s deputy minister for overseas promotion.  For marketing, the ministry will use the DOT (destination, original and time) approach. For promotions, the ministry will implement the BAS (branding, advertising and selling) approach.It also revealed its 10 New Balis plan which fulfill its “attraction, accommodation, and accessibility” criteria. These “Balis” include destinations such as, Great Jakarta, Great Bali, Great Riau Islands, Joglosemar (Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang), Bunaken, Wakatobi, Raja Ampat, Medan, Lombok, Makassar, Bandung and Banyuwangi, according to the report.Read also:Tourism Indonesia and AirAsia drive tourism efforts through marketingIndonesia’s tourism ministry teams up with 28 brandsGaruda Indonesia and Tourism Australia extend partnership(Photo courtesy: 123RF)