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THE INDONESIAN Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of the Yogyakarta Special Region (DIY) has asked the government to add international flight routes at Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) to boost the tourism sector in the province.
According to PHRI DIY Chairman Deddy Pranowo Eryono said in Yogyakarta, Saturday (01/01), 2025 that access to international flights is the main key to attract more foreign tourists, especially from Asian countries, to DIY.
“Access to flights abroad, also from abroad to Indonesia, especially in DIY, must be really promoted,” he said.
Currently, he explained that YIA only offers direct flights from Singapore and Malaysia, so there must be a new route to increase the competitiveness of DIY tourism in the international arena.
“At least add a route from Thailand to Yogyakarta. By adding access from Thailand, the impact will be very big,” he noted.
According to him, the existence of Borobudur temple as one of the leading tourist destinations in Central Java and DIY has a strong attraction for tourists from Thailand, especially Buddhists.
“Central Java – DIY has Borobudur, whose culture and culture are the same as Thai tourists. This is the holy land of Buddhists,” he affirmed.
Deddy is optimistic that increasing air accessibility at YIA will effectively support the government’s goal of increasing foreign exchange from the tourism sector.
“Please pay more attention to the tourism sector because the multiplier effect is quite broad, for MSMEs, then the workforce, and also other sectors such as transportation,” he said.
The chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), DIY Ardiyanto, has the same hope regarding the addition of international flights at YIA.
According to him, YIA is very ready to serve more international flights because it is still very adequate in terms of airport capacity.
“If we look at the existing capacity, it is not yet 50% of the ‘traffic’ for both domestic and international flights,” Bobby said.
Currently, foreign tourists in Yogyakarta are still dominated by tourists from Singapore and Malaysia because only these two countries have direct flights to YIA.
Meanwhile, tourists from Europe, the Middle East and other countries usually arrive via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta or I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali before continuing their journey to Yogyakarta.
He admitted that currently the average length of stay for foreign tourists in DIY is only two days.
“With the addition of direct flights, we are sure it can increase to five days and four nights. For comparison, in Bali, the length of stay for foreign tourists has reached seven days and six nights,” Bobby concluded. [sources/photo special]
