China is becoming an increasingly popular destination for Indonesian tourists during the summer travel season, with growing air connectivity and a wider range of tourism products helping to drive demand.
At Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the period around 23:00 is one of the busiest time of the day for flights arriving from China, reflecting the growing number of Indonesians traveling to the country.
"First we arrived in Beijing, and then Chengdu, Chongqing and then Shanghai," said a passenger who had just returned home from a trip of 15 days to China.
"China is very advanced in technology. The infrastructure is very nice, especially the bullet train. Chinese citizens are very friendly to us," another Indonesia traveler said.
The continued expansion of air routes is one example of the growing tourism exchanges between China and Indonesia.
Data shows that around 580 flights operate between the two countries each week, up about 15 percent year on year. Several Chinese airlines have launched or expanded services to Indonesia.
Since October last year, Xiamen Airlines has opened four new routes, including direct flights from Jakarta to Chongqing, Nanjing and Wuhan, as well as a route connecting Surabaya with Fuzhou.
The airline has carried about 370,000 passenger trips on China-Indonesia routes so far this year and expects the figure to reach 700,000 for the whole of 2026, representing an increase of about 50 percent year on year.
Meanwhile, a growing variety of tourism products is encouraging more Indonesians to travel to China.
"For the past two to three years, the biggest destination has been China. We all know China has many interesting cities and places to visit. So I think this year we have about roughly 19,000 to 20,000 tourists coming, relative to last year. Last year there was about 16,000," said manager of a local travel agency.
China-bound travel gains momentum among Indonesian tourists
