HÀ NỘI – Dozens of Indonesian and Vietnamese travel agencies met and exchanged at a meeting on Wednesday to create more tourism products for Vietnamese and Indonesian people.

Titled “Sales Mission Wonderful Indonesia”, the event is the first activity in the framework of the Vietnam International Travel Mart 2023 (VITM).

Addressing the event, Indonesian ambassador Denny Abdi said: “After the pandemic, we learned of the new tourism trends, and policies and strategies were quickly applied to adjust to the changes in tourist behaviour.

“With the new trends, tourism development should focus more on environmental welfare, the demonstration of pride in local culture, society, and traditional knowledge, as well as the balance between mass and quality tourism,” he said.

Making the most use of five top priority destinations (Borobudur, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, Toba Lake, and Likupang) are among Indonesia’s ways to promote this new trend.

In 2022, Indonesia welcomed nearly 5.5 million international tourist arrivals, surging 251 per cent year on year and surpassing the target of 3.6 million.

Indonesia’s target this year is to attract 7.6 million foreign tourists.

“To achieve this, improving connectivity and creating more collaboration is key. In terms of access, Indonesia offered visa exemptions to all ASEAN countries, Visa on Arrival, and Second home visa,” he said.

There are direct flights to Bali, and more rewards can be offered to more destinations in Indonesia, particularly Jakarta. According to the ambassador, Indonesia will also host many international events which will boost demand for trips.

I Ketut Susana, Operation Director of Bali Sinar Mentari Tour & Travel, told Việt Nam News that the company has joined the VITM twice so far.

“Việt Nam is now a prospective market for Bali,” he said. “Many people in Bali have a very good connection with Việt Nam. Now there is a direct flight from Việt Nam to Bali.”

Susana said his company received Vietnamese guests before the pandemic and has started to receive Vietnamese tourists again.

The company this time introduces many new tours to various destinations in Indonesia to Vietnamese people for individuals, and big and small groups.

According to Hà Văn Siêu, Deputy General Director of Vietnam National Tourism Administration, in 2022, Việt Nam received 26,000 tourists from Indonesia, an increase of 5,000 people against that in 2021. Yet in 2019, the number was 106,000.

In the meantime, Việt Nam is the country with the fourth-largest number of tourists to Indonesia with over 62,000 in 2022, after Malaysia (over 1 million), Singapore (over 666,000), and the Philippines (over 65,000).

“Summer is always an exciting period for foreign tourism,” he said. “We have a promising summer ahead.” VNS