“Learning from the year by year data on tourist arrivals, we see that the decline of tourist arrivals in September is normal because the holiday season is over [in September]. European countries have entered Autumn,” BPS head Suhariyanto said at a press conference on Thursday.

He revealed that the largest decline in tourist arrivals occurred in Tanjung Benoa in Bali, followed by arrivals in South Sumatra.

The decline in South Sumatra was seen because, in the previous month, the province's capital Palembang welcomed a large number of tourists when it cohosted the 2018 Asian Games from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, Suhariyanto added.

Meanwhile, the largest increase in tourist arrivals was seen in Manado, North Sulawesi, because of the opening of new flights from Sam Ratulangi International Airport to several cities in China. “We also saw a sharp increase in arrivals in West Kalimantan,” he added.

The BPS said China was still the largest source of tourists, followed by Malaysia, Timor Leste and Australia. “The data is similar from month to month, with a minor change in position among them,” Suhariyanto said.

Tourist arrivals from January to September stood at 11.93 million. This year, Indonesia targets to welcome 17 million foreign tourists. (bbn)  

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