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INDONESIA SALES MISSION 2016 ROADSHOW HOSTED IN THE CITY

Posted By: Sachin Murdeshwar February 17, 2016

Mumbai, 17th February 2016 : The Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Indonesia is focused on increasing the footfall from the India market to Indonesia. After success in Sales Mission India 2016 in Hyderabad and New Delhi last month, the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia (MoT) continues to aggressively promote “Wonderful Indonesia” in the Indian market. MoT now holds Sales Mission India 2016 in Chennai and Mumbai from February 15 to 17. The Ministry of Tourism Republic of Indonesia, Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) organised “INDONESIA SALES MISSION 2016” on Wednesday, 17th February 2016 in Mumbai, The event witnessed interactions between the Indonesian and Indian travel fraternity, which is expected to boost outbound travel from India to Indonesia, helping to meet the target of 350,000 Indian visitors. The event was attended by Saut Siringoringo, consul general, Indonesian Consulate General, Mumbai and Ngurah Putra, special advisor for general affairs to MoT, Indonesia. Addressing the participants, Putra informed that the India market is highly potential for tourism in Indonesia, and that Indian outbound travel to Indonesia is increasing every year by about 15 per cent.MoT revealed that 262,000 Indians visited Indonesia in 2015. MoT has has set a target of attracting 350,000 Indian visitors in 2016.

Indian arrivals into Indonesia is expected to get a boost due to the recent introduction of free 30-day short stay visa policy for Indian tourists. The policy is currently available only at nine entry ports in Indonesia. Siringoringo stated that direct air connectivity between the two countries is expected to start in December 2016, wherein direct flights on Delhi-Jakarta and Mumbai-Bali routes will be operated. Speaking on tourism growth, Siringoringo expressed, “We are lucky to come to India, which carries huge potential for the growth of tourism in Indonesia. India is currently the seventh biggest contributor to tourism in Indonesia. For tourism acvities to grow, introduction of new packages is very important. We have discussed with the travel trade fraternity to create new packages for golf enthusiasts, senior citizens, etc.”

Adding to the same, Putra commented, “We are going to improve infrastructure and hospitality service. Our president himself conducts one dedicated meeting on tourism every month. Film tourism is one of the important markets for us and we are putting our efforts to attract the film industry, through FAM trips for the film industry. We are also plannning to include all entry ports in the 30-day free short stay visa policy.”

Saut Siringoringo, Consul General, Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, revealed that Indonesia expects to have good connectivity to India and will soon be operating direct flights from India. It has been in discussions with various airlines for increasing flights to India. He said, “The Ministry of Tourism will probably appoint AirAsia for direct flights to India, but there is a possibility of other airlines as well, like Garuda Indonesia.” He added that the Indonesian Minister of Transportation attended the ‘Make In India Week’ in Mumbai and analysed the prospects of direct connectivity.
Indonesia recently held its own two-city roadshow in Chennai and Mumbai in mid-February. He says, “We have a lot of travel agents from Indonesia participating in the roadshow besides the Indian travel agents. The Ministry of Tourism came from Jakarta to showcase Indonesia in India for this. We chose Chennai because Medan, which is the capital of North Sumatra, has a town named Madras where people of Indian origin reside so there is a deep link between these cities. Many people from Tamil Nadu or Karnataka fly to Medan for this reason. This is why Chennai is important as a market. We also have our Indonesian Travel Provision Centre (ITPC) there along with our Honorary Consulate in Chennai.”

The sales mission event also recognised and awarded top Indian tour operators for their contributions to outbound travel from India to Indonesia in 2015, which included Cox & Kings, SOTC, Thomas Cook, and Kesari.

About the Author

Sachin Murdeshwar
Sachin Murdeshwar is a Sr.Journalist and Columnist in several Mainline Newspapers and Portals.He is an ardent traveller and likes to explore destinations to the core.