Published on January 2, 2014
A survey conducted by the global travel search website Skyscanner revealed that Indonesia’s Tourism in 2014 will grow significantly in 2014 due to the increasing number of domestic tourists travelling within the country.
Tika Larasati, Market Development Manager of Skyscanner Indonesia said on Friday, 20th December 2013 in Jakarta that this growth is triggered by the continued efforts made by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in promoting international and domestic tourism in particular.
It is estimated that in 2014, the number of domestic air travelers will undergo a significant growth following the trend in increased air traffic in 2013. This condition is supported by the fact that tourists rely mostly on air communication, which has become the main means of transport in Indonesia. This is also supported by the construction and operation of 12 new airports built in 2013, that will be followed by seven additional new airports in 2014 and five more in 2015. The expansion of routes and domestic networks by domestic carriers has also provided more options for domestic tourists to further explore their own home country.
In 2012 the National Statistics Bureau estimated that Indonesians made a total of over 245 million trips during the year, up from 236 million in 2011. While air travel has grown on average by 15% per year.
Besides the development of new airports, the impressive growth in the number of luxurious hotels built throughout the country has also contributed to the surge in the number of domestic tourists.
Entering the year 2014, Skyscanner predicted that Indonesia’s domestic tourism trends will continue to rise especially for weekend vacations. The “joint leaves” (Cuti Bersama) policy made by the government has also adds to extra holidays and boosts domestic travel.
Favorite destinations for the domestic tourists are, therefore, predicted to be those that offer a vareity of attractions but are comptitive vis-a- vis price, distance, and travel time.
The top 10 most popular destinations projected to be the most favored are:
1. Labuan Bajo (Flores) in East Nusatenggara
2. Belitung (Tanjung Pandan) , in Bangka Belitung
3. Pontianak , West Kalimantan
4. Bandung , West Java
5. Malang and Batu in East Java
6. Pangkalpinang (on Bangka) in the province of Bangka Belitung
7. Mataram, on Lombok in West Nusatenggara
8. Bali
9. Tarakan, in North Kalimantan
10. Bandar Lampung in the province of Lampung.