Thailand should tap Indonesian tourists

BANGKOK, 27 July 2012: An Indonesian tourism expert says a unified market in the next three years will open doors for ASEAN’s private sector tourism industry to build better business.

Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies vice chairman, Bagus Sudibya, told Thai travel agent, at a meeting Thursday, that cooperation was the key to compete in the global market.

“ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 is an opportunity for all ASEAN member countries to work together and tighten regional competitiveness.”

Bagus Sudibya (right)

“It is a time to act now and exchange more travellers particularly between Thailand and Indonesia as there is vast potential to grow the two markets.”

On average, around 40,000 Indonesians travel to Thailand, while there are around 20,000 Thais visit Indonesia. This should be compared with around 2 million Indonesian tourists travelling to Malaysia and 1.2 million to Singapore.

“Thailand is not ready to support Indonesian travellers,” he said. “There are insufficient tour guides who can speak Bahasa.” There are also food issues for Muslim travellers  who visit secondary destinations.

Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country after China, India and the United States and has potential to deliver more tourists as its middle class expands with stronger spending power . Already, its middle class exceeds 40 million and many of them are now travelling overseas. Indonesia has a population of 225 million.

Indonesia is now facing stiff competition from Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia to attract inbound travellers. Malaysia attracts 11 million foreign tourists annually, while Indonesia is still striving to reach 8 million.

Sourced: ttrweekly