Over 1.54 Million Tourists Visit Indonesia in July

Jakarta MINA — More than 1.54 million tourists had visited Indonesia in July 2018, up 16.57 percent, from 1.32 million a month earlier, Antara News reported, citing the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

“The increase in the number of tourist arrivals has the same trend as (the same month) last year when summer holidays began in countries in the United States,” BPS Chief Suhariyanto noted here on Monday.

Of the total, 1.06 million tourists visiting Indonesia were air travelers, 252.37 thousand tourists arrived by sea, and 221.39 thousand tourists by land, he noted.

Compared to the same month last year, the number of tourists traveling to Indonesia by air in July 2018 rose by six percent, he added.

In terms of percentage, the Sam Ratulangi Airport in North Sulawesi recorded the highest increase in the number of tourist arrivals, at 62.01 percent; followed by Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport in Aceh, at 43.54 percent; and Minangkabau Airport in West Sumatra, at 22.66 percent.

Meanwhile, Kualanamu Airport in North Sumatra witnessed the lowest rise in the number of tourist arrivals, at 5.03 percent.

Overall, entry points at seven airports in the country witnessed a drop in the number of tourist arrivals in July 2018, with the highest decline recorded at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport in Riau Province, at 31.78 percent, and the lowest drop recorded at the Lombok International Airport in West Nusa Tenggara Province, at 3.44 percent.

Cumulatively, the number of tourist arrivals in the first seven months of 2018 reached 9.06 million, up 12.92 percent, from 8.03 million in the same period last year. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)