Indonesia's sales mission in Kathmandu to attract Nepali tourists

KATHMANDU, Sep 19:The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf),Indonesia held a sales mission on September 13, 2024 in Kathmandu City, Nepal to maintain Indonesia's existence as a favorite destination for tourists from the country popularly known as the "sky of the world".

This sales mission activity is a form of active collaboration between the Ministry, the Indonesian Embassy in Bangladesh and Nepal and more than 30 domestic tourism industry companies. Post-pandemic, Nepalese tourists have shown positive growth in Indonesia. In 2023, tourist visits from Nepal increased by 186 percent compared to 2022. From January to July 2024, Nepalese foreign tourist visits reached 5,058 or an increase of 70.48 percent from the same period in 2023. Meanwhile, in the period of July 2024, the increase in the number of Nepalese tourist arrivals reached 91.9% compared to the same month in 2023.

During delivering Indonesia Tourism Update at the opening of the Nepal Sales Mission 2024, the Deputy Minister for Marketing Ms. Ni Made Ayu Marthini stated that the Nepalese tourists continue to show positive trajectory.  Thus, promotional activities such as Sales Mission and awareness campaign need to be held regularly. "In terms of numbers, it is not as high as other top origins countries, but the significant increasing trend shows that Indonesia is growing to be more popular for Nepalese tourists and vice versa. Among Indonesian youth, Nepal is well-known for those who seek for adventurous journey," said Marthini.

The participants attending the Sales Mission explained that two challenges in stimulating the Nepalese tourist to Indonesia, are connectivity and visas. Ms. Marthini however emphasized that these are not a barrier to continuing to introduce Indonesian tourism. "Indeed, we do not yet have direct connectivity with Nepal, so we can do is to work closely and to collaborate with tourism industries in cities or hub countries that have flights connecting Indonesia with to Nepal, such as Kuala Lumpur, which has connectivity with Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia, or Himalaya Airlines which collaborates with Batik Air, as well as Singapore, Vietnam, Bangkok with various international airline options."

Another challenge being raised is that Nepal is currently not a country subject to visa on arrival (VoA), so that Nepalese tourists must pay "more" for a visa to be able to visit Indonesia. The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy convinces the tourism industry in Nepal that Indonesia has the "best value for money", compared to other destinations in the region. “When you arrive and experience the beauty of the destination, Indonesia has to offer, it's all worth it," continued Made Marthini.

The Sales mission activities in Kathmandu are indeed a momentum to be able to interact directly with the Nepalese tourism industry. This is to get a view from the each other’s side while also carrying out an educational approach introducing new destinations and recent policies update from Indonesia.

In the Wonderful Indonesia Sales Mission in Kathmandu, five new destinations of Bali and beyond, were introduced, such as 5 Super Priority Destinations of Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo and Likupang. The new tourism products were also being promoted, including MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions), family, weddings, honeymoons and luxury. In addition, other popular destinations are also re-introduced, namely Batam-Bintan, Bandung and Bromo. "We offer Batam-Bintan as an alternative destination from Singapore or Malaysia. Especially from Singapore which only takes less than 1 hour by ferry to get to Batam-Bintan, this destination offers beauty and attractions such as the blue lagoon, water sports and others. This is very potential for South Asian tourists, including Nepal who travel via Singapore as a hub," added Made.

In addition to Batam and Bintan, Bandung was also introduced with Whoosh fast train access which can be reached in 30 minutes from Jakarta, and Bromo which can be reached within one hour flight from Bali via Surabaya airport.

During the visit to Nepal Ms. Made Marthini, together with the Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh and Nepal, Mr. Heru Hartanto Subolo met with Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) to discuss the efforts and commitment of both sides to strengthen cooperation in the tourism sector, to increase tourist visits between the two countries. The activity was closed with the presentation of batik cloth and the famous Luwak (Civets) Coffee souvenirs from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to the executives of the Nepal Tourism Board.

“Nepal depends on Indonesia in many sectors and Indonesia is quite well-known among the Nepalese people. We continue to cooperate and collaborate with the stakeholders to be able to provide easy access for Nepalese tourists who want to visit Indonesia. With the presence of Indonesia Honorary Cosul, Mr. Chandra Prasad Dhakal, we hope to increase bilateral relations between Nepal and Indonesia including to increase the number of Nepalese tourists visiting Indonesia”, said Ambassador Heru Subolo. 

 The Ministry hopes to organize similar event and other promotional effort in near future.