SIA signs deal to boost tourism in Indonesia

Tuesday, 3 May 2016 00:53 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia have embarked on a partnership to boost foreign tourist arrivals into Indonesia, with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the National Coordination Tourism Meeting in Jakarta.

Both parties will now work to finalise details of the partnership in a memorandum of co-operation (MoC) that will be signed at a later date.

Under the three-year partnership, SIA will support the Ministry’s tourism campaign ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ that has set out to achieve a target of 20 million annual foreign tourist arrivals by 2019. Joint activities will include advertising and other campaigns to promote travel to Indonesia through the Singapore hub from key source markets1, by way of SIA and SilkAir’s services.

SIA has served Indonesia since the Airline’s establishment. SIA and subsidiary SilkAir today serve 13 cities in the country with more than 150 weekly flights.

Indonesia’s foreign tourist arrivals up 9%

JAKARTA (Reuters): The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia rose 8.96% in March from a year earlier, following a 3.31% increase a month before, the statistics bureau said on Monday.

There were 806,118 tourists visiting Indonesia in March, compared with 768,118 in February, the bureau said.

The number of foreigners visiting the country, including those passing through Indonesian borders from neighbouring countries and foreign workers with permits for less than year, was 915,019, it said.

Indonesia’s government is keen to expand tourism to boost Southeast Asia’s largest economy. It aims to attract 20 million foreign visitors a year by 2019. Last year, 9.73 million tourists came.

As part of efforts to expand the sector, the government plans to allow greater foreign ownership in tourism-related businesses.

“We are excited to be working with the Ministry of Tourism to boost travel to Indonesia,” said Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer Goh Choon Phong.

“With our strong presence in Indonesia and a global network of nearly 100 destinations in 35 countries, we are well placed to support the development of the country’s tourism sector even further.”

“Air transportation is a critical success factor for tourism in Indonesia. Therefore, to attract as many foreign tourists to visit the country, we have to cooperate with major airlines that have an extensive worldwide network,” said the Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia, Arief Yahya.