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Economy in brief: Foreign tourist arrivals increase in February
The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Wednesday that the number of foreign tourist arrivals grew 11
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he Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported on Wednesday that the number of foreign tourist arrivals grew 11.95 percent in February compared to the same month last year amid a global economic slowdown.
BPS head Suryamin said the number reached 787,700 in February, higher than 702,700 in the same month of the previous year.
Between January and February, the number increased by 3.71 percent to 1.51 million from 1.46 million in the same period of last year.
'The increase was mainly contributed by Chinese tourists, probably due to a slight recovery in China's economy,' Suryamin said at a press conference.
Indonesia has seen significant growth in the number of Chinese tourists coming to the country in the last 10 years, besides being the largest trade partner, according to BPS deputy head for statistics Sasmito Hadi Wibowo.
'May and June will be the months when the number of arrivals increases significantly due to the holiday season. However, Indonesia's eastern parts were rarely visited by foreign tourists so we expect there will be more tourism campaigns there,' Sasmito said.
Suryamin added that the government's recent policy to waive visa requirements for 30 countries would not start to affect the number of foreign tourist arrivals until the end of April as the regulation had only been imposed on April 1.
