Ministry of Tourism Designates Jakarta and Bali as Wellness Tourism Pilot Projects

Jakarta and Bali have been announced as the central pilot areas for the development of wellness tourism in Indonesia, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism, Nia Niscaya. “We have designated Jakarta and Bali as the initial locus for developing the wellness tourism ecosystem in 2026-2027 because both have the highest levels of industry readiness and complementary characteristics,” Nia told ANTARA in Jakarta on Sunday. She explained that Bali has long been recognised as a world-class wellness destination, with strengths rooted in its natural wealth, culture, spa services, yoga, and health traditions based on local wisdom. This reputation serves as a strong foundation for the region to continue developing Indonesia’s wellness industry in the global market. On the other hand, Jakarta plays a strategic role as the main gateway for international tourists as well as a centre for business and modern health services. This makes Jakarta highly potential for developing urban wellness tourism that integrates healthy lifestyles, health services, and tourism experiences in urban areas. “The Ministry of Tourism’s focus is not solely on building wellness destinations. What is more important is building a strong and sustainable wellness business ecosystem,” Nia said. She further viewed Jakarta and Bali as the right locations to start this initiative because the government, particularly the Ministry of Tourism, wants to develop an integrated wellness ecosystem development model. This ecosystem, she added, can later be replicated and become a pilot model for a number of other destinations in Indonesia. “The hope is that the success of this model will accelerate the development of wellness tourism nationally, while strengthening Indonesia’s position as a world-class wellness destination capable of providing sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits,” she said. Nia also mentioned that Indonesia has an advantage in developing wellness tourism that emphasises the balance between body, mind, and soul. “This is the authenticity and characteristic of Indonesian wellness tourism, rooted in the original culture of the archipelago that has developed in various regions in Indonesia,” she added. Nia recounted that Indonesian ancestors possessed knowledge of the balance of body, mind, and soul, as found in the reliefs of Borobudur Temple, lontar manuscripts in Bali, and manuscripts in the Mataram Islamic era palace. The authenticity of wellness culture is still preserved, such as the tradition of spas with a variety of spices that also have diversity in each region, meditation, traditional herbal medicine (jamu), aromatherapy, healthy food, and the utilisation of natural geothermal resources. The Ministry of Tourism in 2025 has organised Wonderful Indonesia Wellness (WIW), which serves as an umbrella activity for various wellness events in Indonesia. Through WIW, the Ministry of Tourism integrates various initiatives and activities that encourage the strengthening of the national wellness tourism ecosystem. In addition to collaborating again with the Jogjakarta Cultural Wellness Festival (JCWF) this year, she said the government will also support other strategic activities, such as the ASEAN–Japan Centre Wellness Tourism event in Bali. The countries mentioned as having a fondness for wellness tourism, namely those with the highest tourist spending, also show great interest in sports tourism and its supporting elements, namely wellness tourism, events, adventure tourism, and experience or integrated area tourism, such as Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, and the United States. This connection shows that the development of sports tourism and its supporting elements, namely wellness tourism, events, adventure tourism, and experience or integrated area tourism, not only has the potential to increase the number of visits but also tourist spending value, thus becoming an important strategy to improve the quality of Indonesia’s tourism foreign exchange earnings. Meanwhile, the Wonderful Indonesia Wellness (WIW) 2025 event held in the Special Region of Yogyakarta and Surakarta City from 1-30 November last year was visited by many foreign tourists from China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.