Indonesia

Saudi Arabia is targeting 2 million Indonesian visitor arrivals by the end of 2026, up from 1.6 million in 2024 (+11.7% YoY), with more than 633,000 Indonesian visitors already recorded as of Jun 2026. Speaking at Saudi Arabia's Indonesia Trade Roadshow in Jakarta, the Saudi Tourism Authority's Southeast Asia market unit senior director said the region continues to show strong demand across all travel purposes. As of Jun 2026, Lion Air, Garuda Indonesia, Saudia and Flyadeal operated 96 direct flights and around 34,988 seats a week between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, with Saudia currently flying 21 weekly Jeddah-Jakarta and 4 weekly Medina-Jakarta services plus 3 weekly Jeddah-Bali flights via Singapore. Saudia is planning new flights to Surabaya, and Riyadh Air is planning a Jakarta service 3 times weekly from Nov 2026. Saudi Arabia also launched Package Visa, a digital service bundling visa applications with flights, accommodation and tourism experiences booked through qualified travel providers

Indonesia's Hajj and Umrah Minister discussed opening a direct flight route between Indonesia and Uzbekistan with the Governor of Samarkand, aiming to extend Indonesian Umrah pilgrims' itineraries to include Samarkand alongside existing add-on destinations such as Turkiye and Dubai. The Minister also encouraged Uzbek tourists to visit destinations beyond Bali, including Lombok, Belitung and Wakatobi, while the Governor said he hoped for more Indonesian visitors to Uzbekistan's Islamic heritage sites associated with scholars including Imam Bukhari

Singaporean investment in Batam reached 10.89 trillion IDR ($617.1 million USD) in H1 2026, or 36.44% of total foreign investment into the municipality, with increasing focus on data centres and artificial intelligence. Singaporean visitors remained the largest source of Batam's foreign tourist arrivals in H1 2026. The Riau Islands recorded 6.94% economic growth in H1 2026 against Indonesia's national average of 5.11%, with Batam growing 6.76%. Singapore's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs cited marine engineering firm Seatrium and the Batam Tourism Polytechnic as examples of successful bilateral partnerships

Moscow is looking to attract more Indonesian tourists by expanding its Muslim-friendly tourism facilities, such as restaurants and hotels. An Official at the Moscow City Tourism Committee said 3,600 Indonesians visited Moscow in H1 2026, +12% YoY and nearly half of the 7,500 Indonesian tourists recorded in 2025. Moscow has compiled information on hundreds of Muslim-friendly tourist sites, hotels, and halal restaurants under its “Discover Moscow” platform. She also added that the city has specialised tour guides to assist Muslim tourists, and they are working on developing tourism packages for Muslim travellers

Indonesians made 802,670 outbound trips in Jul 2026, +4.68% MoM and +7.73% YoY. The increase in outbound trips in Jul 2026 was attributed to school holidays, Umrah pilgrimages through Riau, and events in Southeast Asia and China. Total outbound trips from Jan-Jul 2026 reached 5.26 million, -3.25% YoY

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) held the MHX Yogyakarta 2026 in Indonesia from 20-23 Aug at the Grand Atrium, Pakuwon Mall Jogja. Malaysia generated RM2.2 billion in healthcare travel revenue in 2025, +24% YoY. The program was held under the Malaysia Year of Medical Tourism (MYMT) 2026 campaign theme, “Healing Meets Hospitality”. 15 member hospitals took part in the event

Traveloka SEA Index Q2 2026 based on booking and search data across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam shows Southeast Asian travellers are travelling far from home, staying longer, and looking for experiences. The data shows the highest demand for domestic destinations in Southeast Asia is Malang in Indonesia, with 90 demand score; Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia, with 76; Singapore (for staycation) with 20; Nakhon Phanom in Thailand, with 92; and Phu Quoc in Vietnam (100). The highest-demand international destination from Indonesia was Seoul (99); Krabi (100) for Malaysia; Fukuoka (100) for Singapore; Seoul (100) for Thailand; and Tokyo (96) for Vietnam. The report also found: Phu Quoc bookings recorded +86% YoY; Con Dao, Hoi An, and Da Nang (Ba Na Hills up 132%) became top searched destinations; For Malaysian travellers, Krabi, Thailand recorded 5x growth in bookings. Bookings to Kuala Terengganu, which is a gateway to Redang and Perhentian islands, have doubled YOY, while Bali saw Malaysian bookings double, with longer stays. Malaysian tourists' stays in Bali grew from 2.3 to 2.7 nights, with bigger family groups; Da Nang attracts the region's largest travel parties (2.23 people/booking), and Vietnamese stays in Bangkok have increased from 3.2 to 3.6 nights. Travellers spend less on shorter and fewer flights, and redirect spending on accommodation and experiences.; Across Southeast Asia, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei outperformed average market growth across all five Traveloka markets; Chengdu, Shenzhen, Kunming, and Chongqing grew 2–4x the market pace, boosted by mutual visa-free deals (China with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand) and China's unilateral visa waiver extended through end-2026; Qingdao recorded a 9X YoY increase in bookings across Southeast Asia due to an increase in flight connectivity to HCMC and Penang launched in early 2026

The Hajj and Umrah Minister has proposed raising the average cost of organising the annual Hajj pilgrimage to 107.34 million IDR per pilgrim in 2027, an increase from 87.41 million IDR in 2026 due to higher aviation fuel prices and a weaker IDR against USD. Out of 107.34 million IDR, the direct pilgrim contribution (Bipih) will be 42.94 million IDR or 40%, with a benefit fund allocation of 64,404,103.21 IDR or 60%. The proposal was based on an exchange rate of 17,500 IDR per USD and 4,666.67 IDR per Saudi Riyal

The Director of Travelux Travel Services said operators need to stay flexible as corporate clients make more last-minute requests or changes. Travelux has incorporated more free time into trips to allow for on-the-ground changes without disrupting the overall schedule. He said that for a five-day trip, free time can be extended to one or two days, depending on the budget. The General Manager of Pacto’s Jakarta office said the company is helping clients adjust destinations and hotel categories, while using more in-house staff instead of freelance tour leaders to reduce costs. Pacto recorded around 80% cancellations of its outbound incentive trips since Mar 2026, with the rest postponed to 2027. She added that bidding invitations for Q4 2026 have dropped sharply, with more inquiries for smaller groups travelling closer to home. A manager at Golden Rama Tours said that if European destinations are not within clients’ budgets, they will encourage them to consider Australia and New Zealand as alternatives. He added that Japan and China continue to offer good value for clients