Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism, Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, has announced her vision to connect Indonesia’s tourism industry with the world.
Bali, as Indonesia’s flagship tourism destination, is perhaps one of the most famous travel hotspots in the world, but now Minister Wardhana wants the island to be the gateway to the archipelago.
Speaking at the Bali and Beyond Travel Exhibition (BBTF) in Nusa Dua last week, Minister Wardhana told reporters, “BBTF is our gateway to inspire travelers, connect Bali with various destinations throughout Indonesia, and introduce our diversity to the whole world.”
The Tourism Minister highlighted the need to showcase more of Indonesia’s travel destinations to the world, including those less-visited areas of the ever-popular Bali.
She called for more focus to be put into promoting Bali’s emerging travel destinations like Jembrana and Buleleng, as well as Banyuwangi in East Java.
Minister Wardhana spoke of promoting all ten priority tourist destinations and three regional tourist destinations. Indonesia’s famous five ‘super priority destinations’, also known as the five new Balis, have now been extended to include five more emerging destinations for both domestic and international tourists to explore.
These are Borobudur in Central Java, Mandalika in Lombok, Labuan Bajo-Komodo National Park in the Flores Islands, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru in East Java, Pulau Seribu in Jakarta Province, Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Wakatobi in Southeast Sulawesi, Tanjung Lesung in Banten, Morotai in North Maluku, and Tanjung Kelayang in Belitung.
With more focus on levelling up the tourism sector in these ten destinations, Minister Wardhana hopes to not only give more incredible travel experiences to tourists but also improve the economy and livelihoods. She shared, “Tourism is not only an industry but a story that we share and spread around the world, which also opens up jobs. With an optimistic sense, we want to attract 60 million tourists to Indonesia.”
The Bali and Beyond Travel Exhibition has been deemed to be a resounding success once again. Minister Wardhana told reporters, “This year, BBTF is proud to bring together 529 buyers from 45 countries, including 499 seller companies from 216 exhibitors representing 7 countries, namely Indonesia, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Namibia, and Thailand.”
She added, “This reflects our deep commitment, starting from Bali and promoting and maintaining environmental and cultural sustainability while positioning Indonesia as a global destination with a strong identity and long-term appeal.”
For tourists traveling to Indonesia, it has never been easier to explore more of the archipelago’s offerings. Bali, the island’s flagship travel destination, is not only an incredible destination in its own right but is also increasing the gateway to the rest of the island nation.
Bali’s domestic terminal at I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is now better connected domestically than ever before. With daily flights connecting tourists with Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Nusa Tenggara, and beyond, tourists are truly spoilt for choice.
As Bali tourists start to explore more of what Indonesia has to offer, by organizing multi-destination vacations ticking off emerging travel hotspots like Sumba, Sumbawa, and the Flores Islands, travelers are warned to be mindful of travel scams.
Tourism operators across Indonesia have recently been issued warnings to respect and protect tourists who visit their destinations following reports that a domestic tourist and content creator was extorted for money during a tip to Sumba.
Following the reports of harassment against tourists, Deputy Tourism Minister Ni Luh Puspa issued statements calling for tourism hotspots around the country to commit to improving experiences for all visitors.
She shared, “We all have the same commitment and feeling that practices like this should not happen. This is a shared task to create a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable tourist destination.”
The Minister concluded, “The Ministry of Tourism will continue to coordinate and collaborate with provincial and district tourism offices so that the community receives assistance in managing destinations and increasing tourism awareness.”
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Steve bm
Sunday 22nd of June 2025
Yes try and squeeze a few more in that will work...not
Boris
Thursday 19th of June 2025
Sumba has often been called the Forgotten Island with good reason because despite being a beautiful island with a truly unique culture but also having some of the poorest people in Indonesia ,the Tourism ministry either forgets it or is unaware of the potential to develop in a sustainable manner to attract high end tourism.
The best hotel in the world Nihi is of course in Sumba followed by a few other amazing resorts in the west and southwest. I have visited the boutique Alamaya located in the bay next to Nihi , the Lelewatu, the Cap karosa and stayed in the Sanubari Resort . They are all wonderful each with its own character complementing the beauty of Sumba. Although not the most luxurious I feel the Sanubari could be the most enjoyable and unique destination in Indonesia or even S.E Asia.
Sumba’s population is growing rapidly tourism is a principal way to alleviate the poverty which exists in the island .
Hugh Jarce
Thursday 19th of June 2025
This expansive vision for the tourism sector is nothing more than a fanciful dream. Successive Ministers have trumpeted similar plans with little or no implementation reality underpinning the heroic intent.
Exp
Wednesday 18th of June 2025
Looks like Indonesian with help from China are attempting to ruin top tourism destination Raja Ampat. 16 mining licences issued, 1 island already destroyed.
What is tourism ministry doing with that?
LINK LINK
Thommo
Wednesday 18th of June 2025
The endless superlatives in relation to Bali and using it as the gateway to so many other remarkable destinations cannot sugar coat the reality of appalling degrees of pollution and trash on land and into waterways and sea in all of those places. Seen them all and the reality of environmental degradation, corruption and add to it traffic chaos and poor quality of roads is directly oppositional to the delusional view of the Indonesian tourist authorities. Sad reality. Just source some coverage for example of nickel mining in Sulawesi and Raja Ampat to see how inept and devastating to the environment the real situation is.