Why This Is The Year To Visit Indonesia

Made up of 17,000 islands and some of the best natural tourism attractions, Indonesia has fully reopened and is more popular than ever.

Indonesia has fully reopened for tourism, and by relaxing both health and visa restrictions, the country has ambitious goals set by the tourism minister to increase international arrivals to 7.4 million in 2023. According to luxury travel company Black Tomato, it’s already on the right track. “Indonesia enquiries year to date are up on the last three years,” says Carolyn Addison, Black Tomato’s Head of Product. “Over the course of this year, we expect enquiries for Indonesia to exceed those seen in 2019 based on the upward trend for bookings and enquiries we’ve observed.”

Across the luxury travel sector, spend is up. A recent study by luxury and wealth market research firm Altiant in partnership with American Express says 57% of the global affluent are expected to spend more than on pre-Covid trips, and Indonesia is no exception. “The average booking value [for Indonesia] is double what it was in 2019,” says Addison.

“From a destination perspective, Ubud remains our most popular destination for honeymooners,” says Addison. New luxury hotels in the area include Buahan, a Banyan Tree Escape, Kappa Senses Ubud, and The Sebali Resort; however, Ubud’s initial rise as a luxury tourism destination can be charted back to the Aman brand.

The first Aman resort, Amanpuri, opened in Thailand in 1988, while the second, Amandari, debuted in Ubud in 1989 under the vision of Australian architect Peter Muller, who recently passed away in February 2023.

Amandari was a game-changer in Indonesia, using Asian design influences and local architectural features to draw travelers away from the coast and into Ubud’s tropical interior. Here, Balinese culture is on full display, and there is a little by way of borders between the hotel and its surrounding community. The resort sits 129 steps above a seventh-century Hindu shrine guarded by a stone tiger (a replica of which can be found onsite at the hotel) and the surrounding Kedewatan village community is very much a part of the resort with local students practicing dance onsite and traditional gamelan performances at night. Tours of nearby temples are available to guests to take part in water blessings, holistic healing sessions and numerology; and sarongs and sashes are brought to the suites for the guests to wear for outings to nearby temples like Pura Dalem, a temple honoring the dead built around 1350, and Pura Penataran Sasih, a moon temple home to a holy bronze-age moon drum.

In 1992, two additional Aman properties opened in Indonesia: the ultra-private Aman Villas in the Indonesian upscale beach resort area of Nusa Dua and Amankila in East Bali.

Nusa Dua’s popularity dates back to the 1970s and recently hosted the 2022 G20 summit (according to rumors, the Indonesian contingent stayed at Aman Villas). The area continues to be a focus for hospitality development, with new hotels openings like Marriott's Bali Nusa Dua Terrace and IHG’s Kimpton Naranta Bali, and a full renovation at The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa.

East Bali remains relatively under the radar, with diving being its major draw. In operation for 30 years, it was Amankila which first lured luxury travelers to the area with black-sand beaches overlooking Lombok Strait and impressive architecture. As another one of Aman’s original resorts, Amankila was designed by Aman’s star architect Ed Tuttle, who also designed Amanpuri.

As with Muller, Tuttle’s design set a new standard for resort architecture: the hotel dramatically clings to the hillside almost defying gravity with tiered pools that cascade toward the beach. In East Bali, culture is still a top priority, but nature—and the water in particular—is the big allure. The hotel has two traditional outriggers (known as jukungs) used for cruising and snorkelling (a new addition is the sunrise cruise with breakfast served aboard), and the area is also known for big game fishing and handline fishing.

As a nation made up of 17,000 islands, Indonesia as a whole remains a popular spot for sailing. “Family demand remains strong for private charters in the Komodo Islands,” says Addison of Indonesia’s most famous UNESCO World Heritage Site. “That said, we also see popularity for honeymooners here onboard intimate single cabin ships; and 2023 departures to the Komodo Islands have increased versus our previous best of 2019, up by 80%.”

While there are no shortages of vessels to choose from, new sailings include Ponant with Smithsonian Journeys in a 16-night expedition and a 21-night cruise with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic. Aman has also gotten into the game with Amandira, the brand’s flagship yacht with 5- and 7-night Komodo-focused expeditions aboard the 170-foot phinisi boat.

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