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IT’S been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic hasn’t ended in various parts of the world, including Indonesia. Pandemics are also of particular concern to Indonesian tourism players. Especially related to the trend of destinations they will visit after this pandemic.
According to Tedjo Iskandar, Founder of TTC Travel Mart – the organizer of an independent tourism exchange in a light conversation with the Media Crew Association (HAM) entitled “Favorite Destinations After Pandemic at Home & Abroad” (26/3) said from my notes, several trends in travel people experience change to a new normal and waiting for foreign destination countries to open their tour routes.
“In TTC’s record, there is a trend where participants or tourists want to only take short trips, not transit, the route can be customized, for groups that are still on a small scale. Meanwhile, the lifestyle of staying at hotels has started to decline from the usual 5-star to 4-star,” said Tedjo.
Tedjo Iskandar noted that there is a trend of tourists visiting unique destinations, no longer a common destination. Tourists also start to enjoy outbound trips related to nature or adventure. Several Indonesian destinations are also very attractive apart from Bali, there are 5 super priority destinations that will become the main target after the pandemic besides outbound activities.
“We also note that there is a new hobby of traveling using private vehicles or self-driving, such as a campervan. This phenomenon should be captured by tour operators to develop this market,” he explained.
Overseas Destinations
TTC also noted that there is a new trend for Indonesians to visit abroad. Middle East countries such as Turkey, Dubai, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Uzbekistan and Morocco in the last 6 months have become TTC’s special attention.
“Several tour operators have sold packages to Turkey and some Indonesian tourists have visited there. The price it offers is quite affordable. Religious tourism, he continued, is expected to explode after the pandemic. One of them is Umrah Plus which is packaged with Turkey, Jordan, Egypt or even Morocco,” he affirmed.
Saudi Arabia opened up, Tedjo continued but recently closed it again because it was feared that visitors would explode in the middle of this pandemic. Then Israel is also predicted to be a favorite place to visit for Christians, as well as India for Hindus and Buddhists. During the pandemic, many people drew closer to God. This is what according to his notes that religious tourism can be included in the first check list in traveling after the pandemic.
The Position of ASEAN & Asia-Pacific
In addition, what should be an important note is the ASEAN countries. According to Tedjo, this ASEAN could push up to the next tourist list, because the route is not too long. Only 4 hours had arrived. This can be a favorite route.
“The Mekong Region is very strong for Indonesian tourists, for example Vietnam, after 20 years of entering Indonesia, then Cambodia, which has been a famous destination in Indonesia for 15 years, followed by Laos and Myanmar which will ‘steal’ the attention of Indonesian tourists,” he said.
However, continued Tedjo, especially for Myanmar, it is currently still constrained by the political conditions in the country which are still not conducive. So that many Indonesian tourists who want to go to Myanmar fail to visit it. Perhaps what has not been touched is Asia-Pacific, because international gateways have not yet been opened.
Millennial Market After the Pandemic
Based on Tedjo’s analysis, for the millennial market, apart from following the latest trends, they tend to choose unique destinations. Millennials have unique needs, namely existence in the realm of social media.
“For them, uploading content in Singapore or Malaysia is common. But, when they upload content such as in Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Giant Buddha in Bhutan, it certainly becomes something interesting. Apart from being unique, Nepal-Bhutan also has a contemporary lifestyle destination. Visiting these destinations, tourists can do other activities such as cycling, hiking and running. The flight time to that destination can be taken for 7 hours,” he added.
There is another unique river cruise destination. Indonesia actually also exists, namely in Tanjung Putting, Central Kalimantan, but the facilities are still inadequate with those on the Mekong River Cruise, Nile River Cruise in Egypt, Seine River Cruise in Europe.
“I think Millennials have started to shift the trend. Of the mass tourism destinations turned to unique destinations,” Tedjo Iskandar concluded in the 2nd HAM Series webinar session at Omah TTC, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. [traveltext.id]
