Following devastating earthquakes, which hit the north and northwest of Lombok in 2018, serious efforts to rebuild the island's economy, infrastructure and tourism industry have been underway.

Two of the most recent initiatives have been the Island Tourism Forum (ITF) held in Mataram and the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai both held at the end of April.

Lombok's south and southwest coast are attracting developers and investment. Image by Oscar Hermawan on Flickr.

Island Tourism Forum

The ITF focused on encouraging partnerships to explore a variety of commercial and investment opportunities. Stakeholders in the region's tourism industry included local government representatives, academics, businesses, NGOs and communities according to Metro NTB.

The ITF was driven by the Governor of Nusa Tenggara Barat (NTB), Zulkieflimansyah and Helena Studdert, Consulate-General of Australia, Bali.

Studdert told local press the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Partnership (IA-CEPA) agreement in March 2019 has been a significant factor in building investment and two-way trade between the two countries.

According to the Jakarta Post Studdert thought it was "about time we held such a discussion to kick start initiatives and solutions in an effort to renew interest in local tourism in the regency,” she said. 

Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, Arief Yahya, also addressed the ITF with a video message, saying this was a valuable platform for government, business and academic representatives from Indonesia and Australia to explore possibilities to increase cooperation in areas of tourism and education.

Mount Rinjani offers visitors something completely different with volcanic crater lakes. Image by Courtney Balaz-Munn on Flickr.

Arabian Travel Mart

At the same time, Lombok was also gathering interest at the recent Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai as part of a wider Wonderful Indonesia promotion. A large part of the Lombok's recent marketing strategy has been on Halal Tourism, something Deputy Governor of NTB, Siti Rohmi Djalilah, who attended the event together with Indonesia's Ambassador to the UAE and Consular General, spoke about.

Djalilah told Metro that she was sure tourism in Lombok would grow as one of the world's leading Halal Destinations.

Mandalika MotoGP

While promotions and forums are a good ways to focus attention, it is events that are likely to have the most immediate impact on Lombok's tourism industry and property markets. And, as Gapura Bali recently reported, the biggest events on the near horizon are the MotoGP and MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, both slated for 2021.

Dorna Sports, the organizers of MotoGP, and the Indonesian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) signed agreements at the end of January to develop a custom-built street circuit in Mandalika and once completed, would be the first street race in the MotoGP calendar.

Lombok becomes the fifth AirAsia hub in Indonesia with specially designed livery for their planes. Image by Bathara Sakti on Flickr.

AirAsia Hub

Perhaps the most significant positive development for Lombok has been the announcement that AirAsia are planning to make the island a regional hub, which has since moved forward with the innaguration of Lombok as Indonesia's fifth hub according to local newswires.

In a recent report from IDN Times, Lombok becomes the fifth hub in Indonesia after Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali. And a choice CEO of AirAsia Indonesia, Dendy Kurniawan believed would "unlock Lombok's extraordinary tourism potential."

AirAsia has done a number of things around the innauguration including unveiling a Lombok specific livery for its Airbus A320's; introducing new flights from Perth to Lombok on June 9 and flights from Lombok to Kuala Lumpur beginning on May 8.

In addition there will also be domestic flights from Lombok to Jakarta, Lombok to Yogyakarta and Lombok to Bali. 

Sources: Bali Tribun, Metro NTB, IDN Times, Republika, Jakarta Post, Tempo, Infopublik, Gapura Bali

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