New website aimed at Chinese visitors

As part of the new Indonesia-China Tourism Year 2014 campaign, the government recently launched a website in Mandarin Chinese in a bid to boost tourist numbers from the world’s second largest economy.

The website, cn.indonesia.travel, includes details on tourist destinations in Indonesia, tour programs both for individual and group travelers, as well as general information about the archipelago. 

“We are hoping that by using the Mandarin language we can better promote Indonesia to the Chinese tourists who wish to visit our country. We believe that this is a very effective tool since Chinese people are now globally connected and the Internet is the fastest way to access information,” the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry’s director for publicity, Ratna Suranti, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Ratna, who is responsible for promoting the image of Indonesian tourism said the website was prepared in cooperation with travel and trade companies from China.

According to her, the team will also provide information about specialized tourist activities such as diving, natural heritage, cruise and wellness packages in order to accommodate travelers’ demands. 

“We find that Chinese tourists who want to visit Indonesia for a second time look for new attractions. This information is very important to show that we have a lot to offer here and they can pick any kind of activity or attraction that they wish to do or see in Indonesia,” she said, adding that Chinese first-time travelers usually looked for beaches and went to Bali. 

The website is expected to help the government reach its target of attracting 1 million tourists from China by the end of 2014.

According to the ministry’s data, Chinese visitor arrivals have shown double-digit increases in the last two years. In the first nine months of this year, there were 575,204 people visiting Indonesia, up by 24.95 percent from 460,350 in the sameperiod in 2012. 

Overall last year, Indonesia attracted 726,088 Chinese tourists.

Meanwhile, recent data compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 
showed that 83 million Chinese traveled overseas throughout 2012, a significant jump from the 10 million in 2000.

The data also showed that China set a new record in world tourism by becoming the biggest travel spender in 2012 at US$102 million, up by 40 percent from the previous year.

Moreover, national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia senior manager of public relations Ikhsan Rosan said that the airline was intensifying its promotion in China. 

Ikhsan said that the airline had recently increased its services to the major cities of Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai from five to seven flights a week and had set up a marketing office in Beijing. 

“China is a very attractive market given the fact that it has a huge population.” (Jakarta Post)