Jakarta: The Government of Indonesia continues to encourage domestic travel while boosting household consumption during the school holiday season.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, through a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Trade, the Indonesian Retail and Shopping Centre Tenants Association (HIPPINDO), and the Indonesian Shopping Centre Association (APPBI), the BINA Holiday and Back-to-School 2026 program had officially been launched, offering a wide range of shopping promotions, family-oriented activities, and support for domestic travel.
It said that Indonesian Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Puspa stated that the school holiday period presented a strategic opportunity not only to increase tourism activities but also to stimulate household consumption and national economic growth.
"We hope that BINA Holiday and Back-to-School will create a tangible impact by increasing domestic consumption while contributing to the achievement of Indonesia's tourism targets of 1.176 billion domestic tourist trips and 16-17 million international visitor arrivals," said Ni Luh Puspa during the HIPPINDO 10th Anniversary and the Opening Ceremony of BINA Holiday and Back-to-School on Monday at the Ministry of Trade in Jakarta. Tourism and shopping are closely interconnected in driving regional economic activity.
When people travel, economic benefits extend beyond the transportation and accommodation sectors to shopping centers, MSMEs, culinary businesses, and creative economy players in tourism destinations.
It said the BINA (Shopping in Indonesia Movement) Holiday program, held in synergy with the Jakarta Great Sale and Solo Great Sale, runs from 8 June to 12 July 2026.
The Tourism Ministry said the program offered a variety of attractive promotions, including discounts of up to 50 percent, shopping mall activations, and shopping tourism experiences across various destinations in Indonesia.
A total of 800 brands, 80,000 retail outlets, and at least 414 shopping malls and retail centres in 24 provinces are participating in the programme, it said.
Activities were taking place in major cities across Indonesia, including Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Semarang, Bekasi, Depok, Tangerang, Surakarta/Solo, Bogor, Malang, Yogyakarta, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Padang, Bandar Lampung, Jambi, Makassar, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Samarinda, Banjarmasin, and Pontianak.
The initiative was expected to serve as a strategic measure to stimulate domestic consumption, strengthen the trade sector, and activate a broad range of interconnected industries, said the statement.
"We are optimistic that this program will accelerate national economic activity and generate transactions worth up to IDR 30 trillion," said Indonesia Deputy Minister of Trade Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri.
The statement said this confidence was supported by the success of previous editions. During BINA Lebaran 2026, the program recorded transactions worth IDR 54.9 trillion, exceeding its initial target of IDR 53.38 trillion.
HIPPINDO Chairman Budihardjo Iduansjah said that BINA Holiday and Back-to-School 2026 forms part of HIPPINDO's decade-long commitment to supporting national economic growth through the retail sector.
"BINA Holiday and Back-to-School 2026 is a concrete manifestation of collaboration aimed at encouraging people to shop and travel within Indonesia," he said.
Meanwhile, APPBI Chairman Alphonzus Widjaja expressed the association's readiness to support the implementation of the BINA program through various promotional activities and mall activations across Indonesia.
A New Way to Holiday
The statement said in addition to shopping promotions and retail activations, the government had introduced a series of stimulus measures to support public mobility during the school holiday period.
These included railway transportation discounts, sea transportation operated by PTPelni, and ferry services provided by ASDP. The government has allocated IDR 190.5 billion for these initiatives, targeting approximately 3.07 million beneficiaries.
The government was also providing support for air travel through a 100 percent government-borne Value Added Tax (VAT) incentive for domestic economy-class airline tickets.
During the school holiday period from 24 June to 5 July 2026, approximately IDR 472.7 billion had been allocated, benefiting an estimated 2.3 million passengers.
In a separate statement, Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana highlighted several initiatives launched by the Ministry of Tourism to capitalize on this year's school holiday season.
Earlier this year, the Ministry collaborated with HIPPINDO to organize the BBWI Travel Fair x BINA 2026, held from 15-17 May 2026 at Tunjungan Plaza in Surabaya.
The initiative will be followed by the BBWI x BINA School Holiday Stories program, scheduled for 15-17 June 2026 at Tunjungan Plaza 6, Surabaya.
Through these initiatives, school holidays are positioned not merely as travel opportunities but as a collective movement to experience and enjoy Indonesia.
"Every family that travels, shops for local products, enjoys local cuisine, or visits community-based attractions contributes directly to tourism businesses, retailers, MSMEs, and regional economies," said Minister Widiyanti.
According to the statement, as part of this collaboration, the Ministry of Tourism had introduced the "A New Way to Holiday" campaign, encouraging Indonesians to explore domestic destinations in ways that are more relevant, flexible, and aligned with the needs of modern families.
The campaign promoted a variety of travel experiences, including short getaways, educational trips for children, intercity road trips, visits to tourism villages, and local cultural and culinary experiences for families.
To help travellers plan their journeys more easily, the Ministry had also introduced MaIA, an AI-powered digital platform available in indonesia.travel, it said.
The platform helped users discover destination inspiration, itinerary recommendations, and travel ideas tailored to their interests and family needs.
In addition, indonesia.travel now features a curated collection of school holiday travel packages from travel agents, tour operators, online travel agencies (OTAs), and other tourism businesses, providing visitors with convenient travel options when planning trips across Indonesia, it said.
"The 'A New Way to Holiday' approach aims to encourage a new perspective-that meaningful holidays do not always require long-distance travel or large budgets. Indonesia offers an abundance of attractive, educational, and high-quality destinations that families can enjoy together," said the Minister.
Widiyanti also expressed hope that similar collaborations with tourism stakeholders, such as BINA Holiday and Back-to-School with HIPPINDO, will be expanded, particularly during peak holiday seasons.
"Programs such as BINA are expected to strengthen Indonesia's position as a shopping tourism destination and increase interest among international visitors, including those from Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei Darussalam, to holiday in Indonesia or extend their stay while visiting the country," Widiyanti concluded.