East Nusa Tenggara Tourism Growth Accelerates 30 Per Cent Supported by Digital Infrastructure Development
The tourism sector in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) achieved outstanding performance in 2026 with tourist arrivals climbing nearly 30 per cent compared to 2024. Official data from the Tourism Office showed more than 1 million visitors have visited various premier destinations in the Kupang region and surrounding areas.
This significant growth is largely attributable to improvements in physical and telecommunications infrastructure that has become increasingly widespread. As digital economic activity in the region grows, the demand for improved signal capacity and quality has become a priority to support tourist mobility and business operations.
To address these requirements, XLSmart has strengthened the network through eastern Palapa Ring infrastructure under Project 9. This expansion covers strategic areas ranging from Waingapu, Sabu, Baa, to Kupang with a total capacity reaching 30 Gbps.
The connectivity route linking Kupang with Waingapu and extending to the Bali region represents a crucial corridor experiencing very high data traffic growth. Beyond serving domestic needs, this route also functions as an important backup link to Denpasar.
“The demand for bandwidth capacity services in the eastern region is quite high. Meeting backbone capacity requirements enables our services to operate more optimally without congestion issues,” stated Yoso, Procurement Management at XLSmart.
Support from the eastern Palapa Ring infrastructure plays a vital role in maintaining network stability across eastern Indonesia. This benefit is particularly evident at popular tourist destinations such as Rote and Alor, where data transmission has become significantly smoother.
The improved service quality is expected to provide a better digital experience for customers. With reliable network availability, tourists can remain connected while exploring the natural beauty of eastern Indonesia, whilst simultaneously driving the growth of digital creative economy across NTT.