Lawang Sewu Museum Becomes a Nataru Tourism Magnet, Visited by More than 568 Thousand Tourists Throughout 2025

The Lawang Sewu Museum continues to strengthen its role as a leading national historical tourism destination. Throughout 2025, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) through its subsidiary KAI Wisata recorded 568,075 visitors coming to the icon of the city of Semarang. This achievement is in line with the increasing public interest in educational and heritage-based tourism, especially during the year-end holiday period.

Built in 1904 as the headquarters of the Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij (NISM), Lawang Sewu witnessed the beginning of the development of the railway network in Indonesia, which connected Semarang with the interior of Java. These historical values ​​continue to be presented in a format that is relevant to today’s generation, making Lawang Sewu an inclusive learning and recreation space.

KAI Vice President Corporate Communication Anne Purba explained that the management of the Lawang Sewu Museum is directed at a balance between preserving National Cultural Heritage buildings and strengthening the function of public education.

“We present a visiting experience that is adaptive to current developments, through facilities such as the Immersive Cinema and night lighting arrangements that enrich the interactive exploration of railway history,” said Anne.

The momentum of the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 holidays will be used to expand the attractiveness of this heritage area. Closing 2025, KAI Wisata is collaborating with Jakarta Clothing to hold a year-end festival at the Lawang Sewu Museum which will take place from 30 December 2025 to 4 January 2026. This festival combines culture, culinary, creative products and musical entertainment, thereby enriching the choice of tourist activities for people on holiday in Semarang.

The festival’s entertainment stage will be enlivened by a number of national musicians, such as Padi Reborn, Baradasar, and Dendi Nata, as well as a special performance by Glenn Fredly Live by Bakuucakar feat Ryan Ekky Pradipta, together with international musicians Hall of the Elder. Festival tickets can be ordered online via loket.com.

Strengthening tourist destinations in Semarang goes hand in hand with increasing community mobility during the Christmas and New Year transportation period. KAI noted that ticket sales for the period 18 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 had reached 2,279,308 tickets as of Sunday, 21 December 2025 at 08.00 WIB, from a total of 3,506,104 seats provided.

Anne added that the trend of increasing sales seems consistent towards the peak of holiday traffic, especially towards tourist destination cities and centers of community activity.

“Long-distance train ticket sales reached 2,034,917 tickets or 73.7 percent of capacity, while local trains sold 244,391 tickets or 32.8 percent of the total available seats,” he explained.

Semarang is listed as one of the favorite destinations during the Christmas period, with Semarang Tawang Station being in the top 10 busiest destination stations until 21 December 2025. This position emphasizes Semarang’s role as a historical tourism, cultural and community activity node on the island of Java, with the Lawang Sewu Museum being one of the main magnets.

As part of its support for community mobility, KAI is also presenting a 30 percent fare discount program which is valid from 22 December 2025 to 10 January 2026, with a total of 1,509,080 seats allocated in this program. As of December 21 2025 at 08.00 WIB, 808,543 tickets or 54 percent of commercial economy train tickets with discount rates had been sold.