Russia leads among other countries in terms of growth of tourist flow to Indonesia. However, only Bali is showing growth, where more than 90% of Russian tourists rest. At the Russian-Indonesian business forum, experts discussed the demand trends and problems of promotion of Indonesian destination.
“Indonesia is perhaps one of the few countries where the inbound flow from Russia exceeded the pre-crisis figures of 2013. On the Russian market the Indonesian destination has shown steady growth over the years,” said Maya Lomidze, the executive director of the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR).
The Executive Director of ATOR explained that the Russian tourist flow to Indonesia has been showing positive dynamics since 2016. Already in 2017, it exceeded the pre-crisis figures (in 2013-2014, the maximum indicators from the Russian Federation was at the level of 96.5 thousand tourists). In 2018, the number of Russian arrivals exceeded records of the pre-crisis level by 30%, reaching the highest point in the history of Russian-Indonesian relations.
Based on the results of the first half of 2019, Indonesia has every chance of setting a new record. Thus, according to Indonesian statistics, for the first 5 months of 2019, 79.5 thousand tourists from Russia visited Indonesia, which is 15.5% higher than for the same period last year.
At the same time, more than 90% of the total numbers of arrivals are for the resorts of the island of Bali. This is more than, for example, in 2017, when this share was 85.6%. The other regions of Indonesia show only a slight growth or even a decline in Russian tourist flow. So, the second position in the number of Russian arrivals (5.17%) is occupied by the capital of Indonesia – Jakarta - 3,530 Russian citizens came here in January-May, which is 10.2% lower than in the same period last year.
According to Maya Lomidze, the fact that Russian tourists now mostly rest at Bali resorts, shows that the country has great potential.
Among the main reasons for the growing demand for Bali, experts noted the opening of direct flights to Bali at the end of 2018 (flights Moscow - Denpasar in 2019 are carried out by Aeroflot subsidiary - Rossia Airlines).
Now, Rossia performs two flights a week, in winter the number of flights on the route Moscow - Denpasar will be increased to three. According to the Deputy Minister of Tourism of Indonesia, Ms. Nia Nischai, there is a possibility that the national airline - Garuda Indonesia - will also open flights on the destination, which, in turn, may further stimulate the demand.
