Indonesia sees influx of tourists from Brunei

Sulaiman Shehdek, Country Manager for Visit Indonesia Tourism Officers based in Singapore, said that there has been a stronger response from Bruneians to visit other places such as Bandung, the capital of Indonesia’s West Java province.
“We’ve seen that the number of arrivals (from Brunei) have gone up since the last time we came to Brunei to promote Bandung but we are pushing for more destinations to attract more Bruneians,” he said in an interview with the media at Radisson Hotel following discussions with local travel agents.
According to the Indonesia Statistics Bureau, the total number of foreign tourists between January to June 2016 rose by 27 per cent to 5.2 million from the same timeframe in 2015.
Sulaiman is in the country along with other Indonesian tourism officials and businesses to participate in the 13th Brunei Travel Fair 2016.
Indonesia has been aggressively promoting its tourism industry to help boost its foreign exchange reserves and strengthen its national currency the rupiah.
In May 2016, The Jakarta Post reported that the Indonesian government would launch “Travel X-Change’, a one-stop digital platform that would help users compare tourism products and packages from the entire archipelago.
The Indonesian government is targeting 12 million tourists by this year and is seeking to achieve 20 million foreign tourists by 2019.
Erwita Dianti, a deputy director at Indonesia’s tourism ministry, said that Brunei remains an important market for Indonesia although the number of tourist arrivals from Brunei pales in comparison to the arrival of tourists from Singapore and Malaysia.
She said that Brunei has the advantage of a strong currency “which means it gives Bruneians more value for their money when spending on accommodation, leisure and other tourist products.”
“We still think that there is more room to grow in terms of getting Bruneians to visit as there are cultural similarities and we understand the halal needs of Muslim travellers,” said Erwita.
Sulaiman said that the Indonesian tourism ministry has been active in finding ways to boost tourist numbers including a visa-waiver for tourists from 169 countries that stay under 30 days.
“This shows the seriousness of the Indonesian government in wanting to attract more tourists into the country which has much to offer for the needs of every tourist.”
In her speech, Indonesian Ambassador to Brunei Nurul Qomar said that both countries should work together to develop their respective tourism industries.
She also said that connectivity within the archipelago has much improved which has enabled the country to further develop its tourism sector.