Entering 2022, the tourism sector has not fully recovered. The challenge is particularly felt by the tourism industry, which relies on foreign tourists (wisman) wanting to visit Indonesia and domestic tourists (wisnas) who want to travel abroad. However, the situation in 2022 can be considered better compared to 2021, when vaccinations had just begun, and the world was still grappling with the pandemic’s waves. At the end of 2021, the Omicron variant was a small hiccup that is still impacting restrictions and extended quarantine times in many countries, including Indonesia.

"We saw an increase in travel demand in the fourth quarter of 2021, and we received many bookings for foreign tourists wanting to visit Indonesia and domestic tourists wanting to travel abroad from November to December. This indicates that market enthusiasm remains," said AB Sadewa, Corporate Secretary of PT Panorama Sentrawisata Tbk (PANR).

As is well known, the tourism sector is highly dependent on the movement of people both domestically and internationally. When movement restrictions are tightened, the tourism sector feels the pressure. However, with the situation of COVID-19 gradually being controlled domestically, the recovery of national tourism will begin with the movement of domestic tourists, while international tourism is expected to follow not long after.

"Our domestic market is very strong, but their behavior in traveling domestically has shifted. They no longer just buy vacation packages, but now prefer unique experience-based tours with new and trendy destinations. For this reason, our business units under Panorama continue to prepare vacation options that are suitable for the domestic market," added Sadewa.

With a recovery pattern focused on the domestic market, Panorama has pivoted its strategy to adapt to the existing situation. Panorama continues to serve inbound tours through its operational office in Thailand, where the "Land of the White Elephant" has been welcoming foreign visitors without quarantine since early November last year.

In 2022, PANR is also in the process of preparing a rights issue to strengthen the company’s capital structure for executing its work plan, one of which is to transition the company into a travel-tech company. Despite the increasing demand from the domestic market and the optimism of tourism stakeholders, risks still remain for the sector. For example, if there is a re-tightening of the PPKM (Community Activity Restrictions) level, it could result in a reduction or halt in the movement of people.