US media: Indonesia plans more direct flights with China, hopes to return to pre-epidemic levels

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Indonesia is planning to open more direct flights with China and launch a campaign on social media to attract Chinese tourists to Bali. The report said that Indonesia intends to use this opportunity to revive its tourism industry after China gradually optimized its epidemic prevention and control measures to reopen its borders.

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Specifically, the report said the Indonesian government said it would launch direct flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to Denpasar, Bali province, and step up promotional activities for popular Indonesian tourist destinations on TikTok (ShakeYin International).

The report mentioned that Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, said at a press conference held on the 24th, “We cannot deny that our foreign tourist arrival (trips) target for 2023 will depend on Chinese tourists.” He also added that Indonesia’s Lion Air, Baze Air and a Chinese airline are preparing for regular flights between China and Bali.

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The report described that before the outbreak, Chinese tourists accounted for one-fifth of the total number of foreign tourists received in Bali. This year, Indonesia aims to receive a total of 255,300 Chinese tourists, and only a fraction of the 2.1 million Chinese tourists Indonesia will receive in total in 2019. The Indonesian government expects the number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali to return to pre-epidemic levels by 2025. Bali’s deputy governor, Oka Sukawati, told a news conference that the island used to have direct flights with 20 Chinese cities covering 15 airlines, “and hopefully we can get all of that back.”

As previously reported in the media, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Bali’s provincial government held a ceremony on the morning of the 22nd of this month to welcome the first Chinese tourist charter flight to arrive in Bali from Shenzhen in 2023. During the event to welcome the Chinese tourists at Bali airport, the Indonesian side arranged local traditional songs and dances and a lion dance performance with Chinese New Year characteristics. The airport presented a welcome wreath and souvenirs to each visitor. Bali Governor Koster said in his speech at the welcome ceremony that Indonesia attaches great importance to the Chinese market, and China has been one of the largest source countries of tourists to Bali for many years, with the peak number of Chinese tourists visiting Bali reaching about 1.4 million. The return of Chinese tourists will certainly boost Bali’s tourism boom.