Surabaya saw highest Idul Fitri exodus: Survey

Paper Edition | Page: 14

A new survey on Indonesians’ behavior during the Idul Fitri holidays this year found that 62 percent of the Surabaya’s residents, the highest percentage of any city surveyed, left the capital of East Java to celebrate the Muslim biggest festivity of the year.

Marketing research company Ipsos made a copy of its IpsosAsiabus survey available to The Jakarta Post on Friday, which showed that Bandung followed Surabaya with 38 percent, Jakarta (36 percent) and Medan (24 percent).

The survey found most homebound travelers this year, or 52 percent of the 1,040 respondents aged 15-64, fell in the lower-income bracket.

Indonesians, both who stayed put and those who traveled, said they spent most of their time visiting relatives and friends (80 percent), receiving guests (70 percent), staying at home (53 percent), going to recreational areas (41 percent) and going to malls (36 percent).

The survey disclosed that 92 percent spent their money on food and beverages, 77 percent on new clothes, electronic items and gifts, 72 percent on relatives and 67 percent in donations. Only a few used their money for accommodation or savings.

The survey found that non-Muslims in the four big cities spent leisure time at home (73 percent), visited relatives and friends (56 percent), went to malls (38 percent), received family and friends in their homes (31 percent) and visited recreational sites (19 percent).

Respondents living in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya and Medan could choose multiple answers to some of the questions.