Could Business Travelers Help Restore Indonesia’s Tourism Sector?

KOMPAS.com – Businesses in Indonesia’s tourism sector have been advised to focus on catering to business travelers to revive the industry during the pandemic.

The suggestion was made by Maulana Yusran, Secretary-General of the Indonesian Association of Hotels and Restaurants.

“Why business tourism? It could trigger the entire ecosystem to get moving again such as the creative economy," he said during an event on November 3. "It is different than leisure which relies on a traveler’s spending power.”

Maulana believes that business travelers have a higher spending power which is beneficial for the local arts community, the creative economy, and other sectors, helping to restore Indonesia’s tourism sector.

Read also: Bumpy Road to Restoring Indonesia’s Tourism Sector during Pandemic

Maulana advised that the Indonesian government entice business travelers through events funded from the Local Government Budget or the State Budget.

Other methods to attract business travelers is to use hotel and restaurant as venues for government events. Maulana trusts that such moves would motivate business owners to stay in business and that it would revive various sectors of the economy.

He recommended that the Indonesian government focus on sports tourism and events in addition to Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition (MICE) events post-pandemic to bring in domestic and international travelers.

“We hope that the government will focus on aspects outside of leisure tourism, but also on MICE tourism so we can get the economic activity of Indonesia’s hotel sector moving. That way, the need for government's stimulus spending can be reduced.”

Read also: Hotel, Restaurant Industry in Indonesia Loses $4.8b Due to Covid-19 Pandemic

Incentives for travelers and tourism bubble

Providing incentives for travelers is one way the Indonesian government improve social mobility from one tourist destination to another and to support the recovery of Indonesia’s tourism sector.

Maulana proposed there be a tourism bubble that applies for specific areas such as Bali to spark an interest among domestic travelers.

Maulana said that the supply of hotels in Bali is quite large in which 60 percent of the occupants are foreign travelers.

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