Traveloka Et Al And The Tourism Sector Can Help Save Indonesia From Recession?

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The country's tourism industry is slowly trying to rise amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the threat of an economic recession. A number of tourist attractions in various regions have also begun to open, although they can only be visited by local tourists.

The pandemic that has occurred since early March has put tremendous pressure on the tourism sector. In order to survive the decline in business due to this epidemic, various efforts have been made by online travel agent (OTA) companies, including Traveloka.

Traveloka CMO & CEO of Traveloka Experience Christian Suwarna said, to meet the changing needs of users in the new normal era or to adapt to new habits, Traveloka presents features that prioritize flexibility.

First, air transportation. Christian said that his party is implementing the Fly Worry-Free concept or flying without worry to make changes to flight schedules without additional costs.

Second, accommodation. In this feature, Traveloka implements a buy now stay later system or buy now to pay later, easy rescheduling or easy rescheduling, and Pay Upon Check-In (PUCI) or pay at check-in.

Lastly, Traveloka Xperience. This feature allows users to use vouchers at any time with a long period of use.

"We also present innovative promotional strategies through Traveloka LIVEstyle Flash Sale, a program that combines the flash sale concept with a marketing channel in the form of live streams packaged in casual chat formats and various interesting content," he said, when contacted by VOI, Wednesday, August 19.

Through the LIVEstyle Flash Sale program, Christian hopes, Traveloka can help partners to run their business operations in this difficult period. Recently, his party also launched the Traveloka Clean Partners Campaign, which makes it easier for users to identify Traveloka partners who have committed to implementing hygiene, health and safety protocols according to government and related institutions' regulations.

Especially for the Banyuwangi area, said Christian, Traveloka has also established a strategic partnership with the Banyuwangi Regency Government to partner with industry players in the tourism sector in Banyuwangi.

"And digitizing the marketing system for its products and services through the Traveloka platform, so that it can reach consumers from a national to international scale," he said.

Public Interest Begins to Increase

Christian said, in the new normal era or the adaptation of new habits, there is an increasing public interest in traveling. This increase is in line with plans to open other domestic tourist attractions following Bali and Banyuwangi.

"Overall, we are seeing an increase in user interest for several Traveloka products in the transition era of New Habit Adaptation. For transportation products, there has been an increase in transactions, although the number of transactions in this period is still far from the number of transactions in the period before the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

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For accommodation products, Traveloka internal data notes that since June the trend of demand for staycations in cities has continued to increase. Especially, said Christian, in several big cities in Indonesia compared to the previous month.

"Meanwhile, the increase in user demand for Traveloka Xperience products has also increased up to eight times higher in July, since the opening of a number of tourist sites at the end of June," he said.

Likewise, Secretary General of the Indonesian Travel Agents Association (Astindo) Pauline Suharno said, there had been an increase in sales, but it was not significant. This is because tourists only take vacations that are still in the vicinity of the residence.

"Travelers are also mostly just staycations, individuals or families who don't really need additional services such as car rental or guides. Ticket sales are few. For hotels, friends have started selling pay now stay later vouchers," said Pauline.

Pauline said, in the period from March to May, sales dropped by 90 percent. However, when the government relaxed the large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policy until it was implemented normally, there was an increase in sales.

"From March to May, sales have dropped by 90 percent. Now there is an increase. I just received the report and haven't counted it yet," he said.

Tourism Rescues from Recession

Previously, East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Chairman Adik Dwi Putranto said that one of the sectors that could save the economic recession in the third quarter of 2020 was the tourism sector, because now it has become a driving force for the economy.

Tourism, said Adik, is also an epicenter of economic growth in the East Java region because there are many sectors that are closely related to their performance, such as the service sector, culinary, to agriculture and MSMEs.

However, he said, what must be considered is how this tourism can be reopened by paying attention to the protection of children, because children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, are very vulnerable to exploitation.

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