Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno announced that tourists from mainland China are expected to return to Indonesia in 2023. Before the global pandemic, Chinese tourists were one of the main sources of foreign visitors to Indonesia.
Sandiaga, quoted by state news agency Antara, confirmed that several Chinese airlines have applied to resume flights to Indonesia. The tourism minister considers the return of Chinese tourists a positive development. In addition, the flight applications filed by PRC Airlines are a positive signal that the Chinese are willing to restore Indonesia as a favorite vacation destination.
Sandiaga predicts that at least 255,700 Chinese tourists will visit Indonesia in 2023. Before 2019 and the onset of the global pandemic, the number of Chinese visitors to Indonesia reached 2.07 million. Chinese visitors were second behind Malaysians with a total of 2.98 million.
Currently, Australia is Indonesia’s largest source of foreign tourists, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, India and Britain.
Sandiaga said the easing of travel restrictions imposed by the PRC government will ease upcoming flights and have a significant impact on Indonesia’s tourism industry recovery and job creation.
