OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2024

Indonesia

Tourism in the economy and outlook 

Tourism is a key driver of economic growth, regional development and employment in Indonesia. In 2022, the tourism sector contributed approximately USD 6.8 billion in foreign exchange earnings, and accounted for 3.6% of the country’s GDP. This is still down from 5% in 2019, but up from the pandemic-low of 2.2% in 2020. In the same year, tourism provided employment for approximately 22.9 million people or 16.9% of total employment. This was up 0.8% compared to 2019.

In 2023, Indonesia recorded 11.7 million international overnight visitors, or 73% of 2019 levels (16.1 million visitors). This was up 98% compared to 2022. The top source markets in 2023 were Malaysia (16%), Singapore (12%) and Australia (12%). Further, the recovery in 2023 boosted tourism receipts. In 2023, foreign exchange earnings reached USD 14 billion, more than double the level in 2022.

Domestic tourism plays an important role in Indonesia and has regularly increased in recent years. In 2023, the country recorded 825.8 million domestic overnight visitors, a 14% increase compared to 2019.

Indonesia forecasts that the number of international tourist arrivals will vary between 10.4 million and 14.3 million in 2024, and tourism receipts are expected to reach between USD 10.5 million and USD 13.1 million.

Tourism governance

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is responsible for tourism in Indonesia. The Ministry collaborates regularly with various stakeholders, such as the ministries of Health, Foreign Affairs and Communication and Information to develop tourism and the creative economy. The Ministry also collaborates regularly with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in the development of tourism destinations, especially in Indonesia’s super-priority and priority tourism destinations.

The Co-ordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment has a Deputy of Tourism and Creative Economy responsible for co-ordinating and synchronising the formulation, decision-making process, and implementation of tourism and creative economy policies with related ministries and agencies, especially the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

In 2023, Indonesia’s national budget allocated IDR 3.38 trillion to tourism, a decrease from IDR 3.59 trillion in 2022. This was supplemented by the Special Allocation Fund for Tourism Infrastructure of IDR 0.45 trillion (up from IDR 0.31 trillion in 2022) and the Special Allocation Fund for Tourism Infrastructure of IDR 133.3 billion (a IDR 9.8 billion increase compared to 2022). 

Indonesia: Organisational chart of tourism bodies

Source: OECD, adapted from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, 2024.

Tourism policies and programmes

Tourism growth and development in Indonesia are guided by the country’s long-term tourism strategy, the Institutional Framework for Tourism Policy Development, which establishes the following priorities: 

• Increase destination competitiveness in the form of quality tourism products and services, with implementation focused on Super Priority Tourism Destinations.

• Support the upskilling and reskilling of the tourism workforce, marketing, the crisis management programme, and the MICE sector.

• Increase domestic tourism, with the Proud to Travel in Indonesia campaign, which promotes several attractive destinations. 

• Restore leading tourism destinations such as Bali, Batam-Bintan and Bandung.

• Develop tourism villages by optimising the potential of the creative economy as a driver of community economy. 

Indonesia has committed to a phased and structured approach for tourism recovery, aligned with three core principles: productivity, inclusivity, and sustainability. This approach is divided in three phases: 

• 2020-21 - Resiliency: to manage crises effectively and mitigate their impact on the sector, the Indonesian government implemented the Crisis Management for Tourism Destinations Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability programme. The programme prioritised domestic tourism and developed contingency plans for evacuation, emergency response protocols, and communication. The Ministry worked closely with the National Disaster Management Agency and Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency.

• 2022-23 - Recovery: to accelerate recovery and improve productivity within the tourism and creative economy sectors, Indonesia designated Super Priority Tourism Destinations, key drivers of growth with a pivotal role in revitalising the tourism sector. Indonesia also established a Tourism Ecosystem designed to nurture these selected destinations. Under the National Medium-Term Plan 2020-24, ten Priority Tourism Destinations, of which five are Super Priority Tourism Destinations, benefit from the development of supporting roads, ports, airports, pioneering tourism destinations, tourism villages. The programme also includes developing tourism products, improving the creative economy ecosystem, and developing human resources in each location.

• 2024-25 - Preparing for Adaptive and Sustainable Destinations: The flagship initiative during this period involves further improving the Super Priority Tourism Destinations to ensure environmentally conscious, socially responsible, and economically resilient growth.

To respond to the challenges and capitalise on the opportunities under the recovery phase, six segments are being prioritised: (i) Bleisure: to capitalise on the increase of remote working, attracting digital nomads and business travellers; (ii) Ecotourism and adventure: this includes nature and environmental-related tourism with a growing number of destinations and operators are committed to low carbon as well as Blue, Green, and Circular Economy; (iii) Health tourism: a special economic zone has been designated to support comprehensive health tourism for visitors seeking wide range of medical treatments; (iv) Heritage and culture: to prioritise tangible and intangible cultural products and attractions in tourist destinations; (v) Gastronomy tourism; (vi) Tourism villages: to offer a holistic tourism experience while educating tourists on culture and sustainability (see box below).

Responsible and sustainable tourism villages in Indonesia

With potential to accelerate the recovery of sustainable tourism and increase economic growth, Indonesia’s tourism villages programme aims to strengthen the industry's readiness to improve sustainable tourism practices, train a professional staff, supply high-quality tourism products, and adhere to strict health procedures. The programme helps preserve the natural environment and support local communities, and tourism villages offer a holistic tourism experience, combining culture, nature, and education.

There are several government-initiated tourism village development programmes, such as the Tourism Awareness Campaign 5.0, the Indonesian Tourism Village Awards, and the Sustainable Tourism Village Certification. These programmes aim to develop tourism villages through areas like limited to human resources development, collaboration with Corporate Social Responsibility programmes, support for tourism and creative economy businesses and financial literacy programmes. It also provides capacity building in areas, such as homestay management, tourism products and travel patterns development, tourism job certification, financial management, food and beverage preparation production and packaging training, setting local businesses, guiding training and fostering collaboration across ministries, institutions, and the private sector for the development of tourism villages.

As of June 2024, 6 024 tourism villages have been registered in the platform, above the target of 6 000 businesses by 2024. Benefits include increasing local tourism during the pandemic by 30%, increasing global competitiveness, economic improvements and mapping creative economy potential. To further promote the initiative, Indonesia has been holding the Tourism Village Awards annually since 2021.

Statistical Profile

Indonesia: Domestic, inbound and outbound tourism

	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
TOURISM FLOWS, THOUSAND
Domestic tourism
Total domestic trips	..	722 159	524 571	613 299	734 865
Overnight visitors (tourists)	303 404	354 353	364 698	406 242	497 334
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	..	367 805	159 873	207 058	237 531
Nights in all types of accommodation	..	306 556	378 006	449 310	..
Hotels and similar establishments		55 390	117 609	185 971	..
Other collective establishments	..	16 032	36 668	36 664	..
Private accommodation	..	235 135	223 730	226 675	..
Inbound tourism
Total international arrivals	15 810	16 107	4 053	1 558	5 889
Overnight visitors (tourists)	13 396	15 455	3 981	1 546	5 761
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	2 414	652	72	11	128
Top markets
China (People's Republic of)	2 139	2 072	240	55	169
Singapore	1 769	1 934	280	19	737
Malaysia	2 503	2 981	980	481	1 213
Australia	1 301	1 387	256	3	655
India	595	657	112	7	282
Nights in all types of accommodation	..	..	..	..	..
Hotels and similar establishments	..	..	..	..	..
Other collective establishments	..	..	..	..	..
Private accommodation	..	..	..	..	..
Outbound tourism
Total international departures	9 468	11 689	2 918	1 711	3 541
Overnight visitors (tourists)	..	..	..	503	3 379
Same-day visitors (excursionists)	..	..	..	1 208	162
Top destinations
	..	..	..	..	..
	..	..	..	..	..
	..	..	..	..	..
	..	..	..	..	..
	..	..	..	..	..
TOURISM RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURE, MILLION USD
Inbound tourism
Total international receipts	17 915	18 405	3 602	548	..
International travel receipts	16 426	16 911	3 382	521	6 719
International passenger transport receipts	1 489	1 494	221	27	..
Outbound tourism
Total international expenditure	13 171	14 449	2 075	516	..
International travel expenditure	10 314	11 308	1 748	472	6 288
International passenger transport expenditure	2 857	3 141	327	45	..

.. Not available

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink

Indonesia: Enterprises and employment in tourism

	Number of establishments1	Number of persons employed
	2022	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022 p
Total	..	..	..	..	..	..
Tourism industries	..	..	..	..	..	..
Accommodation services for visitors	..	..	..	..	..	..
Hotels and similar establishments	28 800	408 565	407 292	348 270	186 643	339 224
Food and beverage serving industry	..	..	8 016 863		..	..
Passenger transport	..	..	21 535	15 428	..	..
Air passenger transport	..	..	..	..	..	..
Railways passenger transport	..	..	..	..	..	..
Road passenger transport	..	..	..	..	..	..
Water passenger transport	..	..	..	..	..	..
Passenger transport supporting services	..	..	..	..	..	..
Transport equipment rental	..	..	..	..	..	..
Travel agencies and other reservation services industry	..	..	86 770	65 112	..	..
Cultural industry	..	..	117 092	98 539	..	..
Sports and recreation industry	..	..	..	..	..	..
Retail trade of country-specific tourism characteristic goods	..	..	..	..	..	..
Other country-specific tourism industries	..	..	..	..	..	..
Other industries	..	..	..	..	..	..

.. Not available

1. Data refer to number of enterprises.

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink

Indonesia: Internal tourism consumption

Million IDR

	2020
	Domestic tourism expenditure	Inbound tourism expenditure	Internal tourism consumption
Total	..	..	..
Consumption products	674 507 316	71 080 512	745 587 827
Tourism characteristic products	653 262 094	62 301 195	715 563 290
Accommodation services for visitors	114 514 144	24 197 504	138 711 648
Food and beverage serving services	207 484 990	16 666 223	224 151 212
Passenger transport services	241 889 120	8 749 838	250 638 958
Air passenger transport services	215 827 566	5 765 994	221 593 560
Railways passenger transport services	732 433	162 310	894 743
Road passenger transport services	16 007 808	1 587 083	17 594 892
Water passenger transport services	9 321 312	1 234 450	10 555 762
Passenger transport supporting services	..	..	..
Transport equipment rental services	22 213 587	461 108	22 674 695
Travel agencies and other reservation services industry	4 630 045	613 839	5 243 884
Cultural services	13 872 288	1 833 053	15 705 341
Sports and recreation services	..	..	..
Country-specific tourism characteristic goods	44 131 761	5 660 575	49 792 336
Country-specific tourism characteristic services	4 526 160	4 119 055	8 645 215
Other consumption products	21 245 221	8 779 316	30 024 538
Tourism connected products	..	..	..
Non-tourism related consumption products	..	..	..
Non-consumption products	..	..	..

.. Not available

Source: OECD Tourism Statistics (Database).

Statlink