Jakarta Promotes To Filipino Travelers To Boost Tourism

The provincial government of Jakarta, Indonesia aims to attract more Filipino tourists in 2023 as the tourism sector recovers from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are trying to promote Jakarta to more Filipinos because we see potential in the Philippine market,” said Hari Wibowo, head of the Marketing and Attraction Division of the Tourism and Creative Economy Office of the Jakarta provincial government.

“The easing of health restrictions and the reopening of our establishments make us hopeful that the tourism sector in Jakarta will improve this year.”

The Indonesian economy increased by 5.31% in 2022 due to strong household consumption after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

Wibowo said they plan to reach out to more travel agencies from the Philippines to tourism events in Jakarta, which is the capital and largest city of Indonesia.

“Jakarta is a destination for both business and leisure and we see it as a prime urban destination,” he said. “This is the place for doing business.”

Wibobo added that Jakarta is also the central business hub in Indonesia so there are plans to expand direct flights with various airlines in Southeast Asia.

The Indonesian government is working to connect more direct flights between the Philippines and Jakarta to boost tourism.

PAL Spokesperson Cielo C. Villaluna said Philippine Airlines (PAL) currently has 10 weekly direct flights between Manila and Jakarta.

Data says that in 2022, Jakarta reported 14,890 visitors from the Philippines, which is significantly higher than the 2,540 records in 2021. This record is still far from the 57,593 Filipino visitors in 2018 and 45,521 tourists in 2019.

Wibowo said the Philippines ranked third among foreign visitors to Jakarta before the pandemic in 2019.

“Hopefully, with more collaborative projects between our two countries this year, we hope to have more Filipino tourists in Jakarta,” he said.

Indonesia is forecasting between 3.5 and 7.4 million foreign tourists this 2023.

Source: BusinessWorld