Published on May 6, 2014
Foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia between January through March 2014 reached 2.2 million, or a significant increase of 10.07% compared to Q1 of 2013. While March arrivals numbered 765,607, way above the monthly average of 740,000.
“This is a very positive trend. When this sustains to the end of the year, we are confident that this year’s target of 9.3 million to 9.5 million international tourists will be exceeded, said Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy.
Arrivals through Indonesia’s 3 main gates showed positive growth. Visitors through Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta international airport of Jakarta recorded a growth of 6.48%. Bali saw an increase of 14.42%, while the seaport of Batam saw an addition of 7.5%.
Other airports that saw a huge increase were the Lombok International Airport, up 214.7%, Yogyakarta grew by 44%, and arrivals through Bandung airport increased by 23.03%.
Since the Australian airline, Jetstar, started operating the Perth – Lombokroute, more Australians visited Lombok. Their number is expected to increase further when Jetstar will start its planned flights between Melbourne to Lombok.
Another growing market is China. During Q1 Chinese tourists to Indonesia reached 257,304 up 32.3 % compared to the same period last year.
Other equally growing markets are Saudi Arabia (+80.44 %), The UAE (up 62.01 %), Bahrein (+44,07 %), and Egypt (+31.67%).
Bali Statistics
Separately, antaranews reports that during Q1, Bali received 831,625 direct arrivals from abroad, up 14.39%, that include 15,155 cruise ship passengers.
Top nationals holidaying in Bali are Australia (+15.6%), China (+50.17%), Malaysia (+11.31%), Japan (- 9.07%),Singapore (+48.7%), and South Korea (+8.95%).
Last year 2013, Bali received a total of 3.2 million direct international tourist arrivals, far exceeding the original target of 2.8 million. (WS)
Source: antaranews
photo courtesy: panduanwisata.com
