ByteDance’s short video app TikTok and Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism announced last Friday that they are teaming up to promote ten must-see Indonesian destinations, according to the Chinese tech company’s website.
Lake Toba and the Seribu Islands are among the highlighted locations under the initiative called TikTok Travel x Wonderful Indonesia.
“Our goal is to bring to life the beauty that Indonesia has to offer via the TikTok platform,” said Donny Eryastha, TikTok’s head of public policy in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
One of the heads of the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism’s “Wonderful Indonesia” co-branding team, Priyantono Rudito, said that this program is the first in a series of collaborations with TikTok, and that the two parties will develop other programs to draw visitors to the country.
TikTok will tap local celebrities and creators to engage its user base. There will also be online challenges, new video filters and stickers, as well as roadshows across Indonesia.
In July, the Indonesian government banned TikTok, saying that the app hosted pornographic and blasphemous content. The ban was lifted after TikTok agreed to clear all negative content and open an office in the country to liaise with the government.
Indonesia drew a record number of tourists in 2018—15.8 million, a 13% bump from the previous year—particularly from Malaysia and China, though still fell short of its expectation of 17 million, according to a report by Bloomberg.
ByteDance said that, in addition to Indonesia, TikTok will partner with various tourism institutions in other countries too.
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