December 2, 2025
jakarta – The Ministry of Tourism has launched MAiA, an AI-powered travel assistant embedded in the newly relaunched Wonderful Indonesia website, to increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals beyond pre-pandemic highs.
Indonesia’s Meticulous Artificial Intelligence (MAiA), unveiled on Friday, promises instant, personalized recommendations that previously required potential travelers to research multiple platforms or consult a travel agent.
“The launch of MAiA is a concrete realization of the government’s commitment to building a smart, inclusive and sustainable tourism ecosystem,” Tourism Minister Widyanti Putri Wardhana said at the launch event on November 28.
MAiA is equipped with a suite of intelligent tools, from customized destination suggestions and automated itinerary builders, to interactive maps and easy-to-understand overviews of attractions, to multilingual support.
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The ministry hopes the new AI tools will not only drive tourist spending, but also introduce travelers to local cuisines, crafts and regions that are rarely hit on traditional travel platforms, benefiting overlooked regions.
“In terms of numbers, of course we still refer to the National Development Plan. Every year we are given a target. For example, this year it is 14-15 million.” [foreign visitors]. MAiA will help push us to reach that level,” said the ministry’s Marketing Undersecretary Nii Made Ayu Martini at the launch event.
Officials say MAiA’s capabilities give them confidence that Indonesia’s tourism industry will not only recover but “further exceed” the industry’s pre-pandemic peak in 2019.
The ministry also highlighted MAiA’s strategic role in strengthening Muslim-friendly tourism, one of the fastest growing travel sectors in the world, with Wonderful Indonesia’s platform featuring guides to halal dining and places of worship as well as accommodation and carefully selected package options for Muslim travelers.
“Muslim-friendly tourism is one of the biggest markets in the world, Indonesia has what it needs and we have the assets,” Maid said.
“Other countries, including non-Muslim-majority countries, are also pursuing this space because there is demand.”
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The move is in line with the World Tourism Organization’s call for destinations to deploy AI to enhance competitiveness and minimize friction with travelers. With MAiA, Indonesia joins several national tourism organizations (NTOs) that are deploying AI-powered platforms.
“Currently, only six NTOs in the world are implementing AI: Switzerland, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. […]. But in terms of depth of functionality, we are the best so far,” said Firnandi Gouffron, director of tourism marketing strategy and communications at the ministry.
Ensuring user safety remains a central focus, with ministry officials stressing that MAiA is safe for children and equipped with robust filters and guardrails to block inappropriate or illegal queries.
The government remains optimistic about tourism’s foreign exchange earnings, expecting revenues to reach up to US$18 billion this year. A strong performance in the first nine months and an expected surge over Christmas and New Year are seen as the main drivers for potentially exceeding this year’s arrival target of 14-15 million people.
Indonesia recorded 11.43 million foreign arrivals from January to September, an increase of 10.22% compared to the same period in 2024. In September alone, the number of visitors increased by 9.04% year-on-year to 1.39 million, with Malaysia, Australia, and Singapore maintaining their top positions.
Although the number of foreign arrivals is still below the peak of 16.11 million in 2019, the recovery remains steady and 2024 ended with 13.9 million, the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic.
