Overseas sites capturing RI"s outbound market

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With holidays approaching, or arriving early for some, parents have made plans to travel both domestically and internationally.

Djatmiko, a city professional, says he has taken his family on vacation to the East Java city of Malang and nearby active volcano Mt. Bromo, domestic tourist spots that allow his children to “explore Indonesia”.

“Overseas jaunts are more for sightseeing,” he said on Sunday, adding that he might take his family to Malaysia and Singapore after touring the archipelago.

Meanwhile, Alyssa, the mother of two primary school-aged children, said she and her family visited Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore last week to de-stress, especially after her children’s school exams.

“We don’t mind that other vacationers flocked to the resort as well. It is the holiday season after all,” she said.

Children, it seems, are not the only ones in a tizzy for the summer holidays.

Resorts and amusement parks in neighboring Singapore and Hong Kong are anticipating a swell of well-heeled Indonesian families eager for leisurely pursuits, making the country an enticing market for a myriad of tour operators.

Andrew Kim, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland, said the “Indonesian market is definitely one of the fastest-growing emerging markets in Southeast Asia”, with a macro-economic state that has catalyzed the expansion of the middle-class.

In addition, low-cost carriers are now enabling more people to go on overseas jaunts.

“With these three things — income, leisure time and connectivity — falling into place, outbound tourism in Indonesia will definitely mature and grow,” he said.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) says the outbound market in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian key outbound market, grew by between 6 and 8 percent annually between 2005 and 2011.

Legoland Malaysia general manager Siegfried Boerst said Indonesia ranked first in the international tourist segment and third among both foreign and domestic visitors.

Resorts World Sentosa senior communication manager Sin Yee Lee said “Indonesian travelers have always been one of our top visitors from overseas”, with the resort welcoming a total of 16 million visitors last year.

He added that the tourist site had provided “an array of halal food options” to cater to the many Indonesian tourists’ “preference for halal food”.

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) data said that Indonesia was the top contributor to Singapore’s tourism receipts, driving in US$10.4 billion in the January-September 2012 period.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, Indonesians are known as “top spenders”, spending approximately $16 on souvenirs, or 14 percent above the average, Kim said.

“This comes back to the culture of oleh-oleh, or buying souvenirs, like t-shirts and accessories, for those back home,” he said.

Panorama Tours Indonesia, one of the country’s leading tour agencies, said they designed tour packages around resorts and theme park visits, ranging from accommodations to park entrance tickets, in cooperation with local operators.

A tour package to Universal Studios Singapore, for example, costs around $256.

 Booking numbers for overseas trips were expected to rise 30 percent during the upcoming school holiday season, dominated by families.

Overseas sites capturing RI"s outbound market