BPS chief Suryamin said the increase was unexpected, as May was typically neither a holiday nor a festive season. Statistically, the peak season of tourism visits to Indonesia is in December.

“The 915,000 visits in May were equal to the number of foreign tourist arrivals in December 2014. It is a very good sign to see such high numbers of tourists visit in May,” he said on Friday in Jakarta.

He suggested that the boost in tourism was related to a policy introducing free tourist visas for citizens of 84 countries. On a month-on-month basis, the rise was 1.57 percent.

“It is also clear that Bali remains the most popular destination. On a year-to-date basis, the number of tourists arriving at Ngurah Rai Airport increased 20.72 percent to 1.83 million,” Suryamin said.

Singaporean tourists dominated the visits with 14.79 percent of total foreign tourists visiting Indonesia, followed by Malaysia with 14.1 percent tourists. China and Australia were in third and fourth place with 12.61 and 11.67 percent of tourist arrivals, respectively. (ags)

Popular

Malaysia says China ready to sign SEA nuclear weapons-free treaty

Solving the development crisis with quality finance

Uncertainty looms over northern Bali airport project