One of Indonesia’s most popular domestic airlines has just made a huge commitment to develop more sustainable tourism in the country.

With Bali positioned as Indonesia’s flagship tourism destination, the benefits will surely be felt by tourists on the Island of the Gods.

Pelita Air and Pertamina Foundation are coming together to create a new partnership that will develop sustainable tourism by prioritizing economic empowerment and community education.

United by a mission to integrate sustainable tourism into the mainstream, the collaboration is an effort to support the development of environmentally friendly tourism across Indonesia and ensure fair and equitable economic benefits for local communities.

While the focus of the partnership is to create equitable economic benefits for communities first and foremost, tourists will benefit from the improved capacities of the tourism sector as well as the development of more community-based tourism that enables travelers to connect to destinations in a more meaningful way. 

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was attended by the Main Director of Pelita Air, Dendy Kurniawan, and the President Director of the Pertamina Foundation, Agus Mashud S. Asngari, at a launch event at the popular Patra Bali Resort and Villas, close to German Beach in Badung Regency. 

Kurniawan told reporters, “This collaboration is Pelita Air’s commitment to not only promote the beauty of Indonesia. However, more than that, Pelita Air also ensures that it advances the tourism sector in a responsible and sustainable manner.”

Pelita Air is one of Indonesia’s top domestic airlines, with eleven aircraft that serve ten destination cities, including Bali, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Padang, Pekanbaru, Palembang, Pontianak, Bali Kpapan, Banjamasin and Sorong. 

In 2024, tourism leaders want to see tourists utilize Bali as a gateway to the archipelago at large. Tourist can expect to see even more promotions from domestic airlines like Pelita Air and the national tourism board, Wonderful Indonesia, to add more destinations to their adventures. 

The new partnership will see both Pelita Air and the Pertamina Foundation work together to promote sustainable tourism destinations at a provincial and local level.

Pelita Air is also focusing on advertising and marketing tourism products from micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), assisted by the Pertamina Foundation.

Sustainable tourism is a big theme for Bali in 2024. Not only will the island introduce the Bali Tourism Levy in February, but leaders want to see tourists explore lesser-visited areas of the island.

While partnerships like the Pelita Air and Pertamina Foundation collaboration will promote sustainable tourism around the country, leaders and tourism stakeholders in Bali want to encourage tourists to stay longer in the province and explore more.

In a push-and-pull dynamic between Bali and the rest of the country, the Island of the Gods is facing the challenge that the length of tourist visits is on the decline, which brings benefits to the broader economy but causes problems for local businesses.

In a meeting called to help redefine cultural tourism in Bali for 2024, the Regional Representative Council Member Made Mangku Pastika said that these challenges can’t be shied away from.

He explained, “External challenges include the length of stay of foreign tourists, which is getting shorter because more and more foreign tourists from Bali then continue their journey to Labuan Bajo and Lombok.”

He acknowledged that traffic, waste management issues, and crime have all influenced tourists to look elsewhere in Indonesia for vacation and travel experiences.