A guide standing at Borobudur Temple on Jan 31, the world's largest Buddhist monument and a Unesco World Heritage Site, in Magelang, Central Java. - AFP
DENPASAR: The Tourism Ministry has admitted that its ambition to spread tourist arrivals beyond Jakarta and Bali to 10 priority destinations, known as the “10 New Balis” programme, is falling short.
While online searches for these emerging spots have surged, the buzz has yet to translate into real-world foot traffic, with the government blaming the bottleneck on international flights that remain heavily concentrated in Jakarta and Bali.
But experts suggest the problem runs deeper. Rather than connectivity, they argue the real obstacle lies in how central and regional authorities promote these destinations.
First launched in 2015 under former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, the 10 New Balis initiative set out to replicate Bali-level tourism success across the archipelago.
The programme spotlighted a lineup of flagship destinations, from Central Java’s Borobudur Temple and West Nusa Tenggara’s (NTB) Mandalika to Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and Lake Toba in North Sumatra.
However, a report published by the Tourism Ministry on Dec 2 noted a low search-to-traffic ratio, which gauges potential demand by comparing online search interest from various countries for the priority destinations with the actual traffic that follows.
Several countries, including Japan, India, China, Russia, the United States and Germany, have shown interest, but visitor numbers from these markets remain low.
The pattern of high search activity but low arrivals “is a strong indicator that direct connectivity to priority destinations is still minimal, hence tourism demand cannot be converted into actual visits,” the report said.
The report also cited data from global travel technology company Amadeus, which shows that both Jakarta and Bali accounted for 81 per cent of international traffic as of October, while the 10 other priority destinations collectively received only 3.75 per cent of direct arrivals.
“This gap causes the distribution of tourists to priority destinations to be highly dependent on transit patterns through Jakarta and Bali,” the report reads.
The ministry further noted that the connectivity problem is linked to limited fleets and high operational costs, prompting domestic carriers to focus on high-demand routes, while foreign airlines are often constrained by the cabotage principle, which restricts them from operating domestic segments.
The report also raised the “chicken and egg” dilemma hindering growth in the priority destinations, with key stakeholders, including airlines, the government and private investors, waiting for proven demand before committing, while demand itself depends on improved access and infrastructure.
Haryo Limanseto, the spokesperson at the Office of the Coordinating Economy Minister, highlighted the tourism sector as part of efforts to achieve national economic growth of 8 per cent by 2029 and to accelerate regional economic recovery.
“Therefore, optimisation efforts are needed to encourage domestic tourists to travel to a wider range of destinations, especially the ten priority tourism destinations,” he wrote in a statement published on Nov 28.
Haryo also noted a shift in tourist behaviour, reflected in the declining length of stay across several destinations, with Indonesia trailing Malaysia and Thailand at an average stay of only around two days.
Alvin Lie, an aviation expert who also serves as chairman of the Association of Indonesian Aviation Service Users (Apjapi), dismissed limited air connectivity as the main obstacle to developing the priority destinations, arguing that the government should instead focus on creating demand among both domestic and foreign tourists through stronger promotional efforts.
He acknowledged that airlines would be reluctant to open new routes without clear projected demand in the targeted areas.
“It’s not because of minimal connectivity, but because the Tourism Ministry and local authorities are not promoting their local potential,” he told The Jakarta Post on Dec 4.
Alvin noted that even major hubs such as I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten are still dominated by Indonesian travellers, with most outbound trips concentrated on Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
According to an Apjapi report, most of the country’s international airports primarily serve outbound tourism and have yet to effectively boost inbound travel, with only five airports where foreign arrivals account for more than 50 per cent of passengers.
“It’s pointless to open many international airports if Indonesia only promotes Singapore and Malaysia as destinations. Meanwhile, regional administrations don’t promote their own potential [abroad],” he said.
Indonesian Tourism Expert Association (ICPI) chairman Azril Azhari acknowledged that the air connectivity issue should have been addressed during the planning stage, before the programme was implemented.
“[The programme] needs a total evaluation, from the economic, socio-economic and environmental aspects,” he told the Post on Dec 4.
That said, Azril argued that the main problem lies in the ministry’s poor planning and execution, which he said failed to align with the standards of community-based tourism as mandated by the United Nations.
He added that the global tourism paradigm has shifted from mass tourism toward what he called “special interest tourism,” such as wellness, gastronomy and other niche attractions, an approach that could help destinations stand out and attract targeted markets.
“This is what we need to pursue. It’s not mass tourism, which the Tourism Ministry is currently referring to, because the target is still the number of tourists. Instead, [what needs to be measured is] the length of stay in Indonesia,” he concluded. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
