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Jakarta Post

Indonesia sees 6% fewer foreign tourists in July this year

The number of foreign tourists on a year-on-year basis decreased by 5

Nurfika Osman (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Tue, September 4, 2012

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Indonesia sees 6% fewer foreign tourists in July this year

T

he number of foreign tourists on a year-on-year basis decreased by 5.94 percent, from 745,451 in July last year to 701,200 this year, according to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data released on Monday.

The BPS data showed that the number of Saudi Arabian tourists dropped by 63.03 percent — the highest among other countries surveyed by the agency — from 12,414 tourists in July last year to 4,586 this year. Indonesia’s strongest traveler sources in Southeast Asia — Singapore and Malaysia — showed a double-digit decline on a yearly basis, at 17.71 percent and 14.07 percent.

Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said the decline in tourism throughout July was influenced by Ramadhan, where Muslims preferred to stay in their home countries to welcome the month. “Muslims were fasting and therefore limited their travels. I am sure the figure will increase again as the fasting month ends,” Mari told reporters in Jakarta. “We are going to conduct more events and sales missions, especially in December, to attract more tourists.”

However, the BPS data also showed a 22.95 percent increase in tourists from the United Arab Emirates, the highest increase among other countries, even the number was small: from 950 in July 2011, to 1,168 in the same month this year.

In addition, throughout July, Indonesia saw growth in tourists from Russia and Germany, despite the European economic downturn. Tourists from Russia and Germany grew by 14.35 percent and 13.30 percent, respectively. “Even though European countries are experiencing [economic] slowdown, we are still going to promote our destinations in Europe because the [European] tourists always spend more time in Indonesia, up to 14 days,” Mari said.

She said Indonesia is currently participating in the World Horticultural Floriade Exhibition in the Netherlands, attended by more than 2 million visitors, to attract more tourists.

The BPS data showed the number of foreign tourists from January to July of 2012 reached nearly 4.6 million, up by 5.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

The main gateway for tourist arrivals in the country, Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, recorded more than 1.6
million visitors in the first seven months of 2012, up by 4.29 percent from 1.57 million in the same period last year. The highest January-July increase in arrivals was recorded at Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung, West Java, which recorded 85,663 foreign arrivals, a rise of 23.77 percent from 69,201 in the same period last year.

The data also showed that the aggregate star-hotel room occupancy rate in 20 provinces was 52.53 percent on average in July, a 5.84 percent decrease from the same month last year, and a 4.27 percent decrease from June.

In the first seven months of 2012, Bali recorded the highest star-hotel room-occupancy rate of 62.28 percent, followed by East Kalimantan and Jakarta at 62.01 percent and 58.81 percent, respectively. According to the data, five-star hotels recorded the highest occupancy rate in July at 57.65 percent, followed by four-star and three-star hotels, at 54.16 percent and 52.13 percent.

Foreign tourists spent a shorter amount of time in the nation in July, staying for an average of 2.73 days, down from 2.84 days in the same month last year.

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