Jakarta(WNAM Monitoring): The Whoosh high-speed train will help promote Jakarta and Bandung as tourist destinations in the ASEAN region, according to the Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Astindo).
At the opening of the Astindo Travel Fair 2024 in Jakarta on Friday, Astindo chair Pauline Suharno said that Whoosh can help promote tourism because it is the first high-speed train in Southeast Asia.
“The existence of Whoosh is very helpful for promoting Jakarta as a tourism destination, especially among ASEAN countries,” she added.
She stated that Astindo has received many Whoosh train visits and tour requests. The increase in demand has been driven by students and corporations wishing to try the first high-speed train project in ASEAN.
The demand for visiting Jakarta and Bandung has also increased because of Whoosh.
“There are so many requests from students and corporations throughout ASEAN for the Jakarta to Bandung tour,” she said.
Suharno expressed belief that the Whoosh trains can attract tourists from both ASEAN countries and within Indonesia, boosting travel to the two Javanese cities.
“(Whoosh) increases the number of people who are interested in traveling to Bandung,” she said.
Earlier, Director of Domestic Tourism Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Dwi Marhen Yono, said that the potential money circulation in the tourism and creative economy sectors could reach more than Rp2,000 trillion (around US$127.46 billion) in 2024.
This figure is estimated by the potential number of 1 billion domestic tourist visits, assuming each visit spends Rp2 million on accommodation, transportation, tours, and meals.
