Ibnu Hadi, Indonesian ambassador to Vietnam, said strengthening connectivity would be an ‘important factor’ in increasing the number of visitors from Vietnam to Indonesia and vice versa.

Indonesian news agency Antara quoted him as saying Indonesia was encouraging the opening of more direct air routes connecting Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s two biggest metropolises, with Jakarta.

In addition, there should be charter flights from Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, to the central coastal city of Da Nang, he said.

Indonesia has been one of the destinations benefiting as increasing numbers of the rising middle class in Vietnam travel abroad for holidays.

The number of Vietnamese tourists to Indonesia last year reached 75,682, while 87,941 Indonesian tourists visited Vietnam, according to the Vietnam National Administration. Last year, 8.6 million Vietnamese people traveled abroad, up 15 percent from a year ago.

In the first seven months of this year, Indonesia, home to Bali, one of the most famous island destinations in Southeast Asia, received 53,000 visitors from Vietnam, up 18 percent year-on-year, Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism data shows. For 2019, Indonesia has set a target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals, compared to 15.81 million in 2018.

In order to reach the target of welcoming 123,000 Vietnamese tourists set by the Indonesian tourism ministry, the country’s embassy in Hanoi has launched various activities, including participation in the International East-West Economic Corridor Trade and Tourism Fair and the Tourism and Investment Fair 2019 in Da Nang, as well as the “Bali and Beyond” tourism promotion in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam Airlines, the national flag carrier, has announced the launch of a direct flight from Ho Chi Minh City to the resort island of Bali from October 27 onwards. Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air had launched a direct Saigon-Bali route since last April.

A recent report by Agoda, the world’s leading online accommodation reservations provider, said growing affluence has spurred Vietnamese holiday-goers to spend more on foreign jaunts, and Southeast Asia nations were heavily favored destinations.

Catering to growing travel demand of holiday-goers to Southeast Asia’s beach holiday destinations, the national flag carrier will eventually operate the HCMC-Bali route with seven flights a week. Each flight will take around four hours.

However, during the initial phase from October 27 to late March next year, the airline will have five flights a week due to operational restrictions at Bali’s Denpasar Airport, the carrier said in a release Wednesday.

The new service will be the airline’s second route to Indonesia after the Ho Chi Minh City-Jakarta route, which has been operational since 2012.

The HCMC-Phuket route, the airline’s third route to Thailand, will operate with the frequency of three flights a week, taking around two hours each way.

Le Hong Ha, deputy director of Vietnam Airlines, said the new routes would create more opportunities for travelers from Europe, Japan, South Korea and many other parts of the world to easily access famous beaches in Bali and Phuket.

Dubbed the Island of Gods and a paradise on earth with beautiful beaches, Hindu culture and vibrant nightlife, Bali has consistently been a top holiday choice for holiday-goers in Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam.

In 2017, global travel site TripAdvisor named Bali among world’s top destinations in its Travelers’ Choice Awards.

Phuket is also one of Southeast Asia’s most prominent beach resort destinations.

Citizens of ASEAN member nations can travel within the region without applying for visas and stay as a tourist for a maximum of 30 days.

According to Mastercard, Vietnam has the second fastest growing outbound market in the Asia Pacific region after Myanmar, with projected annual growth of 9.5 percent between 2016 and 2021.

Mastercard has forecast that 7.5 million Vietnamese travelers will travel outside the country in 2021.