Express Transindo Utama (TAXI), Indonesia's second largest taxi operator after the famous Blue Bird Group, is showing signs of aggressive expansion. In 2012, it became the first Indonesian taxi company ever to go public on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). It plans to expand its taxi fleet size from the current 8,000 units to over 15,000 by 2015. Regarding expected net profit in 2013, the company has mentioned a 50 percent increase from last year's IDR 79.2 (USD $8.2 million).

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Foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia went up 14.50 percent in February compared to the same month last year, according to data published by Statistics Indonesia (BPS). In absolute numbers, this translates to more than 678 thousand foreign tourists that visited Indonesia in February. As usual, most tourists entered Indonesia through Bali (Ngurah Rai airport) or Jakarta (Soekarno-Hatta airport). Together, these airports account for over 60 percent of total foreign arrivals.

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Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia's national airline, is planning to sell bonds worth IDR 2 trillion (US $205.1 million) in Quarter II - 2013. The bonds, which are denominated in IDR rupiah, will have a five-year maturity. Proceeds of the bond issuance will be used by the company for capital expenditure (capex), which includes investments in aircrafts and working capital. The airline is currently searching for a lead underwriter through a tender.

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On Tuesday 12 March there will be no transportation possible to the island of Bali, Indonesia's most popular destination in terms of tourism. On that day Hindus celebrate Nyepi, i.e. the Day of Silence or the Hindu New Year in the Balinese Saka calendar. Bali still contains a Hindu majority population amid Indonesia's Muslim-majority population. The island's traditional Hindu culture and customs is one reason for the annual millions of foreign arrivals.

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Indonesia is a country with great tourist potential. It has beautiful and varied landscapes, rich cultures, and vibrant cities. Foreign appreciation for Indonesia's tourism sector can be concluded from the continued rising number of foreign tourists in recent years. Today, Statistics Indonesia published the official figures for 2012. According to the institution, Indonesia was visited by 8.04 million foreign tourists in 2012. Moreover, this result meant that the government target was met.

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A total of 1,555,609 foreign tourists have visited the island of Bali, the most popular tourist destination in Indonesia, in the first five months of 2015, an 11.3 percentage point growth from the same period last year. Given that the number of foreign tourists usually peaks in the period June-September it is most likely that the government’s target of welcoming 4 million foreign tourists on Bali in 2015 will be achieved, or exceeded. Most tourists that visit Bali originate from Australia, China and Japan.

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On 12-13 May, the Hospitality Investment Conference Indonesia (HICI) 2015 will be held in Jakarta. The event, a collaboration between the Jakarta International Hotels Association, the Indonesian Hotel & Restaurant Association (Perhimpunan Hotel dan Restoran Indonesia) and Sphere Conferences (the conference arm of Singapore Press Holdings Limited), aims to become the leading platform in addressing opportunities and challenges in Indonesia’s hotel and hospitality industry.

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Indonesian Minister for Economic Affairs, Sofyan Djalil, announced an economic policy package that is to be implement to boost the Indonesian economy, particularly in a move to improve the country’s current account balance, which is the broadest measurement of foreign exchange flows, including trade, services, interest payments and remittances. One new policy change involves visa-free travel into Indonesia. Starting from April 2015, Indonesia will allow foreigners from an additional 30 countries to enter Indonesia without a visa.

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The total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in 2014 was 9.44 million, up 7.19 percent from the preceding year, meaning that the government target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign tourists last year was achieved. As usual, most foreign tourists entered Indonesia through the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the most famous tourist destination in the world’s largest archipelago. During the whole year of 2014 a total of 3.71 million foreigners spent some time on Bali.

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Tourism in Indonesia has posted impressive growth rates in recent years. This development is due to the fact that Indonesia has plenty of beautiful sites and cultural traditions to offer to foreign (and domestic) tourists, improved airline accessibility to Indonesia, and enhanced focus on promotional campaigns in foreign countries. Lastly, and not unimportantly, there have been no violent terrorist attacks in recent years. In the 2000s, a vicious terrorist attack always resulted in a temporary drop in foreign tourist arrivals.

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The western banking collapse of 2008 did more than cost investors large sums of money, it exposed markets to a renewed sense of vulnerability in that is typically thought of as the world’s most stable financial institutions. But one of the unintended (or unforeseen) results of these events has been the upsurge in alternative retirement destinations for those that are ending their working careers. Perhaps most surprising is the upsurge in the number of retirees moving to the Asia-Pacific region.

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With having more than 10,000 islands, Indonesia offers an unique natural scenery. The country contains all sorts of attractive options for tourism, including seas, beaches, mountains and much more. Not surprisingly, tourist arrivals in Indonesia continue to grow. Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), released in early November 2013, the number of foreign tourist arrivals between January and September 2013 reached 6.41 million, an increase of 8.8 percent from the same period last year.

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Whenever the topic of tourism in Indonesia is touched upon, most people will instantly think of Bali. This small but famous island harbors all sorts of entertainment that will appeal to various segments of international tourism: beautiful landscapes, Balinese Hinduism, lively nightclubs, beaches and more. But apart from Bali - and despite the fact that Indonesia has much to offer on other islands - the country has disappointed in attracting a large amount of foreign tourists so far.

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