PONTIANAK: Digital marketing plays a significant role in promoting the tourism sector in West Kalimantan (KalBar), Indonesia, to enhance its reach to domestic and international tourists, especially from Sarawak.
Head of the Office of Youth, Sports and Tourism, Windy Prihastari, said the approach is important as the tourism sector in Kalbar was also affected by the COVID-19 outbreak previously.
Taking this into consideration, she said they have also developed various marketing strategies with the reopening of tourism gates in early 2022.
“The first thing we did was to shift our marketing method from conventional techniques to digital marketing, which has proven to have a very wide impact because today’s trends rely heavily on social media.
“Therefore, we also work together with all stakeholders to promote tourism digitally and have developed a digital platform called the Electronic Tourist Information Centre (ETIC),” she said.
She said this when met after a courtesy visit by a delegation of Sarawak journalists and social media influencers in conjunction with the Pontianak-Singkawang Familiarisation Trip (FamTrip) at the West Kalimantan Governor’s Office here on Friday.
She added that the role of Sarawak media is very important in helping to promote tourism through collaborative promotions, which in turn opens wider opportunities for the development of cross-border tourism.
“The visit by journalists and social media influencers from Sarawak also reflects a shared commitment to boosting the tourism industry between Kalbar and Sarawak, especially with the launch of direct flights from Kuching-Pontianak and Pontianak-Kuching by AirAsia,” she said.
Meanwhile, West Kalimantan Regional Secretary, Dr H. Harisson, said that with the international flights involving the Pontianak-Kuching route, travel time can be greatly reduced.
Using the example of overland travel from Kuching to Pontianak, he explained that the journey may take about six to eight hours, but with the flight route, travelling from Kuching to Pontianak now takes only about 30 minutes.
“We see that flight costs are cheaper compared to overland travel, which may require additional expenses such as food, fuel and so on.
“In addition, the air route will also make it easier for Pontianak residents to access healthcare services in Kuching while also visiting tourist attractions there,” he added.
Harisson hopes that the direct flight will encourage Kuching residents to travel to Kalbar, which also offers many interesting tourism destinations and culinary experiences.
AirAsia has started a flight route from Kuching and Kuala Lumpur to Pontianak and vice versa from September 12 this year.
Currently, AirAsia is the only airline company to offer a direct international flight to Pontianak.
