The number of tourist visits from Australia and India is poised to increase in 2024, according to Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno. Speaking at The Weekly Press Briefing at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, on Monday (26/2/2024), Sandiaga explained that initiatives have been initiated to boost tourist visits from these countries. This initiative is based on recent statistics indicating that Australia and India ranked first and second, respectively, as the largest contributors of foreign tourists to Indonesia from February 19th to 22nd, 2024. Sandiaga emphasized Indonesia's opportunity to enhance the quality of tourist visits and stressed the need for extraordinary strategies to maximize available seat capacity. He also advocated for increased direct flight facilities and visa-friendly policies for tourists. In efforts to boost tourism from these two countries, Minister Sandiaga Uno recently met with representatives from Flight Centre Australia to promote the opening of new destination packages to five additional destinations (Bali Add-On Destinations). Following this meeting, discussions on tourism sustainability and market education for "Beyond Bali" destinations, as well as the Bali Tax Levy policy, were held.
Sandiaga's activities also included a Bloomberg Roundtable Meeting to discuss the development of super-priority destinations (DSP) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ). During his visit, connections with Surau Sydney Australia were established to promote Indonesian culinary wealth. Following his visit to Australia, Sandiaga Uno traveled to New Delhi, India, to participate in the Raisina Dialogue as a speaker on "Emerging Technologies: A Panacea for the SDGs." He also attended a Bloomberg Roundtable discussion on investment in the tourism and creative economy sectors, particularly in the E-Sport industry. Moreover, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy participated in South Asia's Travel & Tourism Exchange 2024 to inaugurate the Wonderful Indonesia Pavilion, which promotes sustainable tourism in collaboration with DusDukDuk and Rumah Atsiri Indonesia. This meeting resulted in potential transactions worth IDR 114 billion and a potential influx of 42,546 foreign tourists.
