Indonesia saw a 16.57 percent month-to-month increase in the number of foreign tourists to 1.53 million in July from 1.31 million in June, or a 12.10 percent year-on-year increase from 1.37 million in July last year, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced on Monday.
The airports that recorded the greatest increases in foreign tourist arrivals are Sam Ratulangi Airport in North Sulawesi (62.01 percent), Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport in Aceh (43.54 percent) and Minangkabau Airport in West Sumatra (22.66 percent).
Kualanamu Airport in North Sumatra recorded a 5.03 percent increase in foreign tourist arrivals.
From January to July, the country welcomed a total of 9.06 million foreign tourists – a 12.92 percent year-on-year increase from 8.03 million recorded in the same period last year.
The government has targeted 17 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.
BPS head Suhariyanto said the surge in foreign tourists in July could not be directly linked to the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, South Sumatra, from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2.
“We have yet to determine that the Games contributed to the latest surge [in foreign tourists] since the statistics in July obviously precedes the sporting event, which commenced the following month,” he told a press conference.
Source: Jakarta Post
Photo courtesy of EPA