By DayakDaily Team
JAKARTA, Oct 18: The Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) is targeting an eight to 10 per cent increase in tourist arrivals from Indonesia this year, following its success in recording more than 700,000 visitors from the country last year.
In a TVS news report, STB Asia and Domestic marketing director Gustino Basuan said Indonesia remained Sarawak’s second-largest international tourism market, after Brunei.
He said last year’s achievement had also surpassed the target of 600,000 visitors from Indonesia, prompting Sarawak to step up its promotional efforts to attract more tourists from the country.
“We hope the number will increase further this year, with a target of at least an eight to 10 per cent rise in tourist arrivals from Indonesia to Sarawak,” he told TVS when met at the Malaysia Healthcare Expo (MHX) Jakarta 2026 recently.
Gustino said STB participated in and organised about nine marketing events in Indonesia, in collaboration with Sarawak industry partners, including hoteliers, travel agents, and hospitals offering medical tourism services.
He said the promotional activities took place in several major cities, including Jakarta, Surabaya, Serang, and Bandung, while the team considered other locations to expand market reach.
He added that the efforts would continue by exploring other Indonesian cities beyond traditional tourism hotspots, ensuring Sarawak’s tourism promotions reached more prospective visitors while capitalising on existing direct flights between Jakarta and Kuching.
According to him, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market was among Sarawak’s main tourism promotion focuses this year, particularly as the State sought to diversify its sources of tourist arrivals amid geopolitical uncertainties in the Middle East that could potentially affect travel from European markets.
Gustino said Indonesia had strong potential to keep contributing to Sarawak’s tourism growth, including through medical tourism, which attracts patients from across the country. — DayakDaily
