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THE DIRECTORATE of Strategic Management Studies at the Ministry of Creative Economy (Ekraf) has documented that the creative economy sector played a significant role in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth during the 2025/2026 Christmas and New Year holiday period, reaching IDR24.46 trillion, out of a total additional national GDP of IDR48.56 trillion.
According to the Minister of Creative Economy, Teuku Riefky Harsya, the impact of Christmas & New Year is not temporary but reflects a strategic potential that can be managed sustainably. Indicates that the creative economy is influenced by the extended holiday period and has the potential to serve as a primary driver of economic activity when designed as an integrated annual strategy.
The Ministry of Creative Economy’s study indicates a shift in consumer behavior, with an increasing inclination toward creative products such as local culinary delights, fashion, crafts, and entertainment and arts experiences.
This shift in interest strengthens the creative economy subsector’s position as a key driver of public spending during the holiday period, while also opening up market expansion opportunities for local brands in various regions.
According to Google Trends, interest in culinary delights surged on December 28, 2025, while hotel-related searches experienced a notable increase on December 31, 2025, coinciding with the peak of the holiday season.
On December 25–26, 2025, interest in family entertainment, including cinemas, reached its peak. This pattern indicates that creative economy consumption follows the holiday season and can be mapped to support distribution planning and the promotion of creative products.
The results of the business performance survey also reflected a positive impact on business players. During the Christmas and New Year holidays, 76.93% of respondents reported increased sales, and 73.08% recorded increased profits. The majority of business entities were micro-scale, with the culinary, fashion, and craft subsectors contributing the most to the surge in transactions.
In terms of tourist spending, the largest expenditures are still allocated to transportation and accommodation. However, spending on creative products such as food, souvenirs, and retail reached an average of IDR858,000 per person.
This figure indicates that creative economy products have significant potential to maintain their position within the tourism consumption chain and public leisure activities.
The largest direct contribution to the creative economy’s GDP during the Christmas and New Year period was from the culinary sector, at IDR19.9 trillion. This was followed by fashion, at IDR3.9 trillion, and crafts, at IDR0.24 trillion. This underscores the importance of strengthening supply chains, production capacity, and access to financing so that companies can respond optimally to surges in demand.
Teuku Riefky concluded by emphasizing the potential benefits of a systematic approach to managing momentum, particularly during festive seasons such as Christmas and New Year. This approach, when implemented within the context of the Creative Economy Market and ecosystem integration, is expected to have a multifaceted impact, including a significant boost in GDP and the long-term strengthening of the competitiveness of local brands. [traveltext.id]
