Indonesian cities popular with foreign tourists

The Ministry of Tourism has disclosed a number of cities in Indonesia that are popular with foreign tourists, particularly those from the Asian region. ‘They do not come to other countries, but to Indonesia, because they are comfortable. They can shop for many souvenirs for their families and so forth,’ said Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, in Jakarta on Friday. Based on the ministry’s monitoring, Made noted a fairly positive trend of increasing visits from tourists from several countries to Indonesia, for example from South Korea, China, Singapore, and Malaysia. Made said tourists from Singapore and Malaysia enjoy visiting because they see Indonesia as a worthy destination to spend money. Malaysian tourists like to spend money shopping for souvenirs for their families in Jakarta, Bandung, Bali, Bintan, and Batam in the Riau Islands. ‘Because they do not have mountains, and it is the same in China, there are no tropical mountains like ours. So that also adds to our tourism value. That is why Bromo and Ijen have become famous for the Chinese market segment,’ she said. Chinese tourists, she added, are also beginning to visit Manado, North Sulawesi, more frequently now that a direct flight route between Manado and Guangzhou has been opened. Visits are also predicted to increase due to tourists’ fondness for seafood cuisine and marine scenery. Other cities considered popular with tourists, according to Made, are Labuan Bajo, Lombok, and the Gili Islands. This indicates that diversification in tourist destinations within Indonesia has occurred over the last two to three years. Made also assessed that tourists obtain much information about other destinations through overseas tourism exhibitions and social media. ‘And most importantly, if they can stay longer, for these nearby tourists, we want them to extend their stay even more because previously it was only three to five days,’ she said. Meanwhile, for tourists from distant locations such as Europe, she hopes they will spend more money enjoying Indonesian tourism, given the current geopolitical uncertainty affecting the economic sector and ticket prices in their respective countries. On the other hand, the Ministry of Tourism is also encouraging travel agents and tour operators to create attractive tour packages to attract more tourists to visit and explore domestic tourism. All these tour packages are expected to be disseminated massively through social media. Previously, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana stated that tourist visits from the Middle East to Indonesia during January-April 2026 decreased by 1.89 percent, and during March-April 2026 fell by 20.65 percent compared to the same period the previous year. She continued that the number of foreign tourist visits from Europe during January-April 2026 also decreased by 6.5 percent compared to the same period the previous year. However, the number of tourist visits from Southeast Asia, other Asian regions, Oceania, and Africa during January-April 2026 increased by 11.38 percent, 15.27 percent, 6.84 percent, and 5.59 percent respectively.