Tag Archives: Republic of Indonesia

The Badung Regency of Bali in Indonesia is increasing its focus on India and putting extra efforts to develop it as a bigger source market. It was the highlight of the ongoing India Sales Mission 2017 that kick-started in Mumbai with sellers only from Badung participating in it. Sellers from the rest of Indonesia will join the sales mission for the rest of the five cities: Ahmedabad, Pune, Bengaluru, Coimbatore and Chandigarh. Apart from participating in the sales mission, the Badung Regency has also appointed an India representative – Delhi-based Air Guru Travel Solutions – to promote the destination. Dhiraj Kumar, Managing Director, Air Guru Travel Solutions, is an ‘Honorary Representative for Badung Regency Bali’ appointed by BPPD Badung Tourism Promotions Board, Indonesia. The agenda of this sales mission, as underlined by Vinsensius Jemadu, Director, Asia Pacific Tourism Promotions, Ministry of Tourism, Republic of Indonesia, who was leading the Indonesian delegation, was to develop 10 more Balis with the idea of moving away from Bali and promote newer destinations in Indonesia for Indian travellers.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Mumbai organised a two-day expo in the city that brought a huge delegation of Indonesian sellers from various industries together under one roof.  ‘Expo Indonesia 2016’ saw 35 companies participate from industries like travel and tourism, furniture, handicrafts and food. Also participating in the expo was Garuda Indonesia which has announced a direct flight between Mumbai and Indonesia sometime in December 2016, making it the first direct flight to Indonesia. It is considering Bali and Jakarta for this connection. The airline is still working on the schedule and will be loaded in the GDS for sale soon. The Consul General added that they are pushing for more cities between the two countries: Bali – Mumbai, Jakarta – New Delhi  and Chennai – Medan.  On the sidelines of the expo was a seminar dedicated to tourism. Saut Siringoringo, Consul General, Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia, said, “We want to do everything to push relations between the two countries. Indonesia has huge potential in the India market. The achievement of 16 billion USD in trade value between India and Indonesia is no small achievement. We can see this growth even in tourist arrivals from India which grew 68 per cent last year with 2,70,000 Indian tourists visiting Indonesia. This year we expect 3,50,000 – 4,00,000 Indian arrivals into Indonesia.”