Indonesia’s first online travel agent (OTA) tiket.com, together with the Center for Data and Systems Information (Pusdatin) of the Tourism and Creative Industry Ministry of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemenparekraf RI), presented the research data on the tourism industry at the “New Paradigm of Indonesia Tourism Industry Trend 2023” national webinar, held recently.
In his opening remarks, Tourism and Creative Industry Minister Sandiaga Uno said that despite the challenges wrought by the pandemic, it also presented opportunities that could be leveraged to boost the industry’s recovery. Together with tiket.com, the ministry has identified Indonesia’s new tourism paradigm: Wellness Tourism, Work from Destination, Culture Immersion and Off-Grid Travel.
“We will continue to support the 3G programs: GERCEP (Move Fast), GEBER (Move Together) and GASPOL (Work on Every Potential). We will pursue similar collaborations with tiket.com and other strategic partners to develop core programs in 2023,” added Sandi.
According to the data collected by tiket.com and Pusdatin, Jakarta, Surabaya, and Medan remain as the three favorite local destinations among travelers. The number of outbound tourists in Indonesia has soared, with an 81.8% increase in bookings and a 90% increase in the number of passengers. Domestic flight bookings have increased compared to 2020, with consumer behavior described as stable.
Staycation is gaining popularity among the Indonesian population, resulting in a 49.85% increase in the occupancy rates of star-rated hotels (according to BPS data for May 2021-May 2022).
The trend is also reflected in the data collected by tiket.com, which showed a growing demand for villas and apartments. The number of bookings has doubled from pre-pandemic levels to 204%, with Jakarta, West Java and East Java as favorite staycation destinations.
“In addition to launching various promotional programs to increase the public’s interest in traveling, tiket.com also supports various government initiatives, especially empowerment programs for business owners and research-based programs. Together, we are aiming for a solid recovery and growth for the tourism industry,” said Gaery Undarsa, co-founder and chief marketing officer tiket.com.
“Quality will be the key driver in making travel decisions, which is often related to mindfulness, sensation seeking, cultural immersion or booking accommodations,” Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani, the Tourism Ministry Secretary, highlighted in her presentation at the webinar.
Giri Adnyani added that travelers now preferred “Local Before Global” destinations and contactless services that prioritized health and safety. These travelers were also generally more sustainability-minded.
“We hope this collaboration between tiket.com and Kemenparekraf heralds a new beginning in Kemenparekraf’s policy-making process. We would like to see more evidence-based policies that are based on not just official statistics, but also big data from industry partners,” remarked Addin Maulana, Expert Researcher from the Economics, Industry, Services, and Trade Research Center at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).