Indonesia’s outbound agents are hopeful that Garuda Indonesia’s new four-times weekly direct service between Jakarta and Nagoya – launching on March 23 – will bring more business both ways.
Ari Ashkara, president director of Garuda Indonesia, believes that the new service to Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture, Japan’s fourth largest city, will boost investment and trade opportunities in addition to attracting more Japanese outbound travellers to Indonesia.
Rudiana, director of sales of WITA Tour in Jakarta, said this new route this would benefit Jakarta, Indonesia’s key business and administration centre where many Japanese companies are headquartered.
And with a flight schedule that arrive in Jakarta early in the morning, Rudiana predicted that the service would attract more business than leisure travellers. “In Indonesia, the most favourite destination for leisure travellers is Bali, not Jakarta,” he noted.
Like Rudiana, Pauline Suharno, managing director of Elok Tour, opined that the direct flight “will be very attractive for business travellers”.
As for the leisure market, Suharno hopes that the national carrier will launch competitive airfares to attract Indonesia’s outbound travellers. Otherwise, she added, Indonesian travellers are more likely to choose other airlines that provided more affordable tickets even if they are not direct flights.
Rudiana agreed, sharing that airfares would determine whether Garuda could win the market for the Nagoya route. If airfares were too expensive, said Rudiana, Nagoya is unlikely to attract leisure travellers as it is perceived as an secondary tourist destination in Japan.
“Tokyo and Osaka have been deemed ordinary by today’s Indonesian travellers,” he shared.
