Lombok in Indonesia is trending on travel searches

Bali’s neighbouring island Lombok is currently trending in travel searches as its search volumes jumps over 40 percent year-to-date compared to the same period last year, according to travel metasearch Wego.

A study revealed that American’s are the fastest growing market to search the island in Indonesia for holiday options, accounting for one in every five people to search on Wego.com.

Matching this trend, tourist arrival numbers released by the Department of Culture and Tourism, West Nusa Tenggara showed an increase by 36 percent in the first half of 2012 to almost 500,000 visitors.

Travellers from nearby Indonesian dominate the arrival numbers and according to Wego’s figures, over half of the website’s users searching Lombok were using the local Indonesian site.

The highest single long-haul market searching Lombok however, originated from the US at an unexpected 20 per cent of the total.

Wego Indonesia in Jakarta managing director Graham Hills said they are seeing a trend that both domestic travellers and international visitors are discovering new destinations in Indonesia.

"Bali may be the most frequently searched, but Lombok is rapidly closing the gap and as more information becomes accessible online, we can expect it to increase visitation even more.”

Lion Air is still the most popular carrier for travellers flying to Lombok while 40 new accommodation options in Lombok were added in 2012 now offering a total of 2,453 more rooms.

The top five most popular hotels with Wego Indonesia users are currently:

1 The Santosa Villas and Resort
2 Novotel Lombok Hotel
3 Bidari Hotel
4 Kuta Indah Hotel
5 Puri Mas Boutique Resorts & Spa