REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- Indonesia is still not the main destination of Chinese holidaymakers celebrating Lunar New Year, locally known as Imlek, a Chinese official said. Chinese Administrative Office of Tourism estimates about 5.19 million Chinese travelling overseas during Imlek holidays this year. Their most favored destinations have been South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Maldives, and Singapore.

"Chinese New Year is identical to homebound traveling. But, over the past few years, many Chinese have preferred to travel overseas with their family members," Wang Zhuli of Caissa Touristic travel bureau remarked.

Garuda Indonesia's Deputy President for Chinese Region I Wayan Subagia said Indonesia faced stiff competition from Thailand and Maldives for attracting Chinese tourists. "Indonesia has many attractions that are not less attractive than those in Thailand or Maldives. Therefore, we need to improve our tourism spots," he added.

Garuda has started regular as well as charter flight services for Imlek holiday season to attract more Chinese tourists to Indonesia. He said that the Ministry of Tourism Affairs had more homework to do as many Chinese people hardly know about Indonesia or Bali.

The Indonesian carrier has started charter flight service from 10 Chinese cities with Bali as the destination from January 29 to March 29, 2015. The 10 cities are Harbin, Xi'an, Shenyang, Chengzhou, Tiayuan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Ningbo, Wuhan, and Nanjing. "The average seat occupancy rate has reached 100 percent," he said.

Garuda has set a target to carry 27,000 Chinese passengers on chartered planes and 23,000 others by regular flights during the Imlek holiday season.

China is a potential market for Indonesia. On an average, more than 100 million Chinese travel overseas every year. While some one million Chinese tourists visited Indonesia last year, the country has set a target to double the number of Chinese visitors this year.

Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika