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Indonesia's tourism growth beats Malaysia, Singapore
Hundreds of tourists are sunbathing at Kuta beach, Bali
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Hundreds of tourists are sunbathing at Kuta beach, Bali. (Photo courtesy of The Jakarta Post) (Photo courtesy of The Jakarta Post)
Hundreds of tourists are sunbathing at Kuta beach, Bali. (Photo courtesy of The Jakarta Post)
Indonesia has registered higher tourism growth in the first semester of this year than Malaysia and Singapore.
"Compared to last year, Malaysia and Singapore recorded negative tourism growth between January and May by 8.6 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Indonesia registered positive growth of up to 3.86 percent in January-May or 2.69 percent in January-July," said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya in a press release on Thursday.
Indonesia welcomed more than 5.47 million foreign tourists in the first semester of 2015.
According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the highest growth of foreign nationals visiting the country in July this year came from China (19.99 percent), India (10.35 percent), UK (9.99 percent), Egypt (9.66 percent) and Saudi Arabia (4.14 percent).
The volcanic ash from Mount Raung in East Java that disrupted activities in Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport for a few days apparently had not discouraged foreign arrivals in the country's main entry points in Bali, Jakarta and Batam.
"We are optimistic that we can reach our target to attract 10 million foreign tourists this year," said Arief.
The ministry is also hopeful that the visa-free policy for 30 nationalities and aggressive promotion in 18 countries can increase the number of foreign visitors to Indonesia. (kes)
