Delhi, February 13, 2017 (GPN) : Significant increase,of Indian tourists to Indonesia over the year, has encouraged the Indonesian government to further step up their promotion of Indonesia in India. In order to keep up the momentum, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia will conduct a 2017 Sales Mission to India which will be held in Mumbai and New Delhi from 10th to 13th of February. India is a growing market with its ever increasing number of overseas travellers over the years.The World Tourism Organizationhas observed that India’s number of outbound tourists increased from 16.6 million in 2013 to 18.3 million in 2014 and it has predicted that the number will reach 30 million by 2018. This increase is aligned with India’s economic growth of 7.8% during the same period.
For the last two years, there was a significant rise in the number of Indian tourists visiting Indonesia. Data shows that while in 2014 there were 237,990 Indian visitors to Indonesia, the number sprung up to 336,575 by the end of November 2016. In short, the India market is booming and therefore a steadily incremental promotional effort is a logical step to keep up the growing trend. Thus, it is relevant that the Ministry has set a high target, of 546,000 visits by the end of 2017, for the Indian market, i.e.an increase of 56% over last year’s target of 350,000.
Connectivity was once a major challenge for Indonesia tourism, as there were no direct flights connecting India to Indonesia. However, this challenge has been answered,by the reopening of the routefrom Mumbai to Jakarta, starting December 12, 2016. Using Boeing 737-800 with a capacity of 156 seats, Garuda Indonesia now flies 3 times (on Monday, Wednesday and Friday) every week. Return flight to Indonesia includes a short stopover, at Bangkok, for refuelling.
Besides 17 of Indonesia’s tourism industries, Garuda Indonesia will also take part, In the sales mission event, . The main aim is to promote the reopening of the direct flight route. Indonesia is closely connected with India by the Hinduism heritage. There are temples spread across Sumatra and Java islands. Indians who are vacationing in Bali will witness the Hindu heritage even more obvious. In addition to the Hinduism heritage, the Indian visitors can also enjoy the alluring beaches and underwater beauty of Indonesia, encounter Komodo,the native animal, of East Nusa Tenggara, experience the breathtaking Lake Segara Anak on the crater of Mount Rinjani in West Nusa Tenggara, the historical Old City of Jakarta, the majestic masterpiece of ancient Indonesian civilization viz. The Borobudur and Prambanan temples, and many other stunning natural wonders of Indonesia.
