LATest e-bulletin September '25

Gabriele Di Terlizzi
Sep 4
9 min read

Look at the endless innovative touring products developed by LAT. From slow tourism to tours aways from crowds, from an agile system of modular scheduled departures in different languages to arts, architecture, outdoor, experiential, culinary food and education packages, just to name a few!

All our offers are strictly carbon contribution @ LAT Climate Contribution, all emissions being calculated and offset by projects in cooperation with Climate Partners.

In this issue: ① Quote of the month ② The Influencer Influenza ③ Bishop Regus ④ A test for Probowo ⑤ About AI and Travel Strategy ⑥ Myanmar Elections ⑦ Titanic Resurfaces in Singapore ⑧ Air Transport Growth

Everybody is interesting for an hour, but few people can last more than two.

V.S. Naipaul

The Influencer Influenza

Tourism promotion has always been tricky because nothing says “relaxing vacation” like being shouted at by ten thousand ads and reels while scrolling in bed at 2 a.m.

Welcome to the 21st century, where attention spans are shorter than a canary bird. Social media has become the gladiator arena of tourism: airlines, hotels, and random “official” tourism boards hurling glossy videos, drone shots, and those oh-so-deep captions like “Take only memories, leave only footprints”. Groundbreaking.

But here’s the twist: in the last decade, the loudest voices in travel aren’t governments or brands, they’re people with ring lights or virus carriers as you prefer. Yes, influencers. Some are famous, some just showed up one day with a latte in Santorini and voilà, career. They’ve been elevated to the fancy title of “key opinion leaders”, which basically means “we’re paying this person to say nice things about our destination or service” like those paid by Israel to say that all is well in Gaza, so well you could organize your next culinary travel over there.

So, the million-dollar question is: are influencers the future of tourism promotion, or will they go out of style faster than a cringey dance?

The rise of influencers.

Once upon a time, we had endorsers in print ads. Now we have influencers, people with a suspiciously perfect feed and an inexplicable talent for looking amazing while eating noodles in a back alley.

A 2025 report says 27–35% of travelers book trips because they saw it on social media. Translation: a stranger’s filtered sunset pic is more persuasive than your aunt’s travel advice. And brands? They’re cashing in. For every dollar spent on influencers, they get nearly six bucks back. Not bad for someone whose main skill is saying “this view is everything” into a camera.

Naturally, Gen Z and Millennials are the most hypnotized: about one-third openly admit that influencers dictate their vacation plans. Because why trust your own instincts, let alone your curiosity and the desire to learn, sparked by a carefully curated set of readings and informed recommendations, when you can just trust a stranger with a drone and a discount code?

But hey, nothing’s perfect. Influencers are also partially to blame for overtourism (the other main culprits being Airbnb (and the likes) and UNESCO. Tiny villages flooded with people who came because someone posted a cute pic in front of a blue door. Locals: furious. Influencers: “Omg thanks for the likes, guys!”

How to ruin paradise with one hashtag!

Tourism boards hiring influencers sometimes forget the basics:

Vague briefs: Tell an influencer to “just be yourself” and don’t be shocked when they upload a video titled “Top 5 Worst Things About Bali”.

Wrong influencer: No, Karen the skincare guru is not the right person to sell any type of intelligent travelling let alone sport and adventure-oriented tours.

One-off campaigns: Hiring an influencer for one post is like going on one date and expecting marriage. Not happening.

And then there’s timing. A viral campaign during peak season? Congratulations, you just turned a quiet fishing town into Disneyland with worse infrastructure.

How not to get scammed by influencers

Do your research: Some influencers buy followers. (Yes, that guy with “1.2M followers” might just be followed by 1.1M bots and his mom.)

Check their partnerships: If someone claims they’re simultaneously repping Louis Vuitton, Gucci, AND Prada, chances are they’re repping Photoshop instead.

Know your story: If your destination doesn’t know whether it wants to be “luxury chic” or “backpacker budget,” no influencer in the world can fix that mess.

Final thoughts

Influencer marketing can work, if done right. But if your grand strategy is: let’s just pay a random influencer to say our town is cute, or to fill our groups for next month departures don’t be surprised if it backfires.

Still, until hologram vacations or AI-generated travel experiences become mainstream, influencers will keep holding the selfie stick of destiny in tourism promotion. Just select the genuine, educated, knowledgeable and sensible ones, if any.

Bishop Regus

Bishop Maksimus Regus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Labuan Bajo opened the 2025 Festival Golo Koe (FGK) with a strong appeal to both government and private stakeholders: ensure that tourism never becomes a stage for greed and exploitation.

According to a report from Vatican News, Regus emphasized that the tourism sector must be a space that nurtures fraternity, strengthens national unity, and safeguards creation. He hopes that the festival may be a sign that tourism in Labuan Bajo can grow in sustainability, synodality, and inclusivity.

The bishop stressed that tourism should be rooted in ecological care, community well-being, and long-term sustainability, rather than in short-term profits. He warned that an unchecked pursuit of profit could transform Labuan Bajo from a world-class destination into a greed-stricken wasteland offering little benefit to local communities.

FGK is one of eastern Indonesia’s most important annual cultural and religious events. This year’s theme, Weaving National Unity and Sustainable Tourism that is Synodal and Inclusive, is especially relevant for Labuan Bajo, which has grown into a global tourist hub famed for its pristine islands, rich marine life, and the UNESCO-listed Komodo National Park.

Since its inception four years ago, FGK has promoted a multidimensional approach to tourism, blending religious, cultural, economic, and interfaith perspectives.

Regus has described the festival as a counter-narrative to the exploitative tendencies of tourism related abuses and corruption and a model of collaboration between government authorities, the Church (although we operators may help in the process), and civil society.

A Test for Probowo

Mr Prabowo’s, Indonesia President, first year in office combined growing authoritarian control with populist spending. The former general has expanded the influence of the armed forces, boosted defence spending and made it easier for officers to take roles in the civilian bureaucracy. Meanwhile he has pursued three signature economic policies: free school lunches, co-operatives to run rural amenities and the creation of a new sovereign wealth fund. These programmes have boosted his popularity, but do little to drive long-term growth and risk straining the budget. Only 15m people have benefited from the school-meals, well below the government’s target of 83m. Corruption and food-poisoning cases have also plagued the rollout.

All the above has resulted in massive protests emerging as a major test for President Prabowo Subianto.

Clashes between riot police and rock-throwing demonstrators began in Jakarta last week and quickly spread to other regions.

Subianto ordered security forces to take firm action.

The president canceled a planned trip to China for Beijing’s Victory Day Parade this Wednesday, citing the escalating nationwide turmoil.

The protests erupted after reports that all 580 members of the House of Representatives receive a monthly housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($3,075) on top of their salaries.

Introduced last year, the perk is nearly ten times Jakarta’s minimum wage. Critics say it is excessive and tone-deaf at a time when ordinary Indonesians face rising unemployment, higher taxes, and soaring living costs.

The unrest intensified after the death of 21-year-old ride-hailing driver struck and run over by an armored police vehicle during a Jakarta rally. Witnesses said he was completing a food delivery order when caught in the clashes.

The incident shocked the nation and sparked outrage over police conduct.

Unrest spread elsewhere. In Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Authorities detained 1,240 people after five days of unrest. Jakarta’s governor estimated damages at 55 billion rupiah ($3.3 million) from burned buses, damaged subway stations, and other destruction.

Facing mounting anger, Subianto announced cuts to lawmakers’ perks and privileges, including the controversial housing allowance, and suspended overseas trips for parliamentarians.

He also confirmed that seven officers are under investigation in connection with Kurniawan’s death and pledged a “quick and transparent” process that the public can monitor. His administration, he said, will provide financial support to Kurniawan’s family.

Subianto urged Indonesians to express grievances peacefully, assuring them that their voices “will be heard.”

Analysts view the unrest as an outburst of anger over worsening economic hardship, political frustration, and perceptions of elite insensitivity.

Subianto campaigned on promises of lifting growth to 8% within five years and attracting major investment. But with new U.S. tariffs on Indonesian goods and sluggish global demand, many observers see his goals as unrealistic.

The World Bank projects Indonesia’s growth at just 4.8% through 2027, far below the president’s ambitious pledge.

The riots are now subsiding.

So Many Good Reasons to Work with LAT

Established in 1991

Independently owned and operated

Purely B2B with travel industry partners

Online booking engine with immediate

confirmation of hotels, tours and transfers

Skilful Contents Provider and Technology user

Knowledgeable and efficient reservations personnel

Long and proud association with the MICE industry in all Lotus destinations

Fully committed to Sustainability and CSR

Climate Contribution for all packages and services on offer

Extensive selection of scheduled group departures and innovative product lines Direct access to a vast pool of local professional contributors

Owns 5 small boutique island hotels strategically located and one luxury sailing yacht

Multilingual guides in all destinations

Operations offices throughout its destinations

Centralised bookings and payments for multi destination tours 24/7 assistance with interactive voice response available in four languages

LAT Application with UpToDate itineraries and info for guests. Downloadable from Apple and Play Stores

TATTLER

About AI and Travel Strategy

Generative AI and data are reshaping travel strategy across global markets.

There is a persistent gap between what travelers search for and what they ultimately decide to do—underscoring the challenge for organizations trying to keep pace with rapidly shifting customer expectations.

It is interesting to explore how organizations are informing strategy. Firstly, how generative AI is turning into real-time insights. Secondly, how experimentation is becoming the most important muscle for growth.

Too much data, too little clarity

There are more dashboards than decisions, more reports than results. We’re measuring everything, but understanding very little. Functional illiteracy? One may argue.

Without synthesis, teams often default to gut instincts, delay critical decisions, or worse—act on misleading single data points.

This is where generative AI can come into the picture. By aggregating signals across teams and platforms, AI can help organizations cut through the noise to understand what matters most.

Generative AI creates a new layer between humans and data, it takes search trends, reviews, purchase data, and social sentiment—connecting the dots to turn data into answers, and these answers into experiments. In one world, intellectual human work.

These experiments don’t just automate processes, she added, but augment decision-making, enabling faster, more human-centered insights that can serve as the foundation for more effective travel strategies.

Another pressing challenge is the pace at which traveler behavior is evolving, or devolving.

Generative AI, by synthesizing multiple data streams, offers the agility to keep pace with these shifts.

In synthesis: Spot the signals, ask better (educated) questions, unlock data with the right tools, create experiments based on insights, empower every team with the resources they need.

HIGHLIGHTS

Myanmar Elections

Myanmar will hold its first general elections since a military coup in 2021. The vote will be held in stages, beginning on December 28th. Critics fear the junta will use a sham poll to entrench its power. Many will not be allowed to vote in parts of the country where rebel groups are fighting the government and starvation is increasingly widespread.

Titanic Resurfaces in Singapore

Titanic dining experience in darkness opens in Singapore; Singapore’s Royal Plaza on Scotts’s Carousel has introduced Voyage of the Titanic, the second immersive dining experience in its Hidden Table series.

Air Transport Growth

In June 2025, Asia Pacific Airlines show passenger and cargo traffic growth. For the month, the region’s airlines collectively carried 31.2 million international passengers, representing a 7.1% increase compared to the same month last year.

Our whole product for free and independent travellers, groups and MICE are based on a Climate Contribution programme. This means that part of the greenhouse gas emissions that will be generated are offset by projects in collaboration with Climate Partner, one of the leading climate protection solution providers for companies.

The arising emissions are being compensated by supporting a third-party certified geothermal energy project in Darajat, Java (Indonesia). The project helps to meet the growing demand for electricity in Indonesia. By increasing the share of renewable energy, the dependence on fossil fuel-based electricity decreases, and about 705,390 tonnes of CO2 emissions are saved per year.

For over thirty years, Lotus Asia Tours Group has provided services and assistance to travellers the world over, specialising in the design and implementation of corporate events, activities, incentive tours and motivational travel, targeted at FIT, GIT and MICE markets, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indochina. The group also operates five boutique island hotels in Indonesia, in Lombok, Bali, Sulawesi, Papua and Maluku, as well as a seven-cabin luxury sailing yacht.

To learn more about our brand please head to our website, or contact us directly; we look forward to hearing how we could help make your next trip, tour or event memorable and successful.

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