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Tourist arrival decreases in volcano-affected areas
Tourist ride: âTwo tourist boats sit idly at a beach on Gili Trawangan island, West Nusa Tenggara
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span class="inline inline-center">Tourist ride: 'Two tourist boats sit idly at a beach on Gili Trawangan island, West Nusa Tenggara. Lombok international airport was among the airports in Indonesia that experienced a decrease in foreign tourist visits in November due to a volcanic eruption in the area. (thejakartapost.com/ Novani Nugrahani
Volcanic eruptions reduced foreign tourist arrivals by 23 percent on average in November last year at the three most-affected airports, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
"From October to November 2015, most airports recorded increases in foreign tourist arrivals except for Lombok International Airport, Ngurah Rai Bali, and Tanjung Balai Karimun Riau Island which recorded 39.6, 28.5 and 2.1 percent decreases respectively," BPS head Suryamin said in Jakarta on Monday.
Four volcanoes erupted in 2015, namely, Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra, Mount Rinjani in Nusa Tenggara, Mount Barujari in Lombok and Mount Bromo in East Java.
On year-to-date basis (January to November), the number of foreign tourist arrivals reached 8,795,069, a 3.23 percent increase compared to the 2014 figure. The three busiest airports were Ngurah Rai airport in Bali, Soekarno-Hatta airport in Jakarta and Hang Nadim airport in Batam, which together accounted for 77.6 percent of arrivals.
Ngurah Rai was still the main entry point for foreign tourists with 3,560,190 arrivals, notching up a five percent increase from 2014, which saw 3,390,624 arrivals. However, in November 2015 alone, foreign tourist arrivals in Ngurah Rai dropped 10.8 percent compared with November 2014.
On a yearly basis, the number of foreign tourist arrivals nationwide in November 2015 was down by 29.1 percent, compared to November 2014, continuing the decline seen in October, which was 32.4 percent lower than October 2014.
Hang Nadim airport recorded the highest year-to-date arrival increase of 7.3 percent to 1,375,737 tourists, while Kuala Namu, recorded the largest decrease of 13.1 percent to 178,652 tourists.
"Regardless of Kuala Namu's extensive infrastructure, tourists were afraid to visit due to the [Mount Sinabung] eruption," Suryamin said. (ags)
