FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS IN INDONESIA IINCREASE 7.24 PERCENT

Jakarta, 14 Dzulhijjah 1435/8  October 2014 (MINA) –The number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in August this year reached 826,821 people, rising by 7.24 percent from 771,009 people in the same month in 2013, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data revealed on Wednesday.

The figure also represents a 6.38 percent rise from the 777,210 visitors recorded in July 2014.

“Lombok International Airport recorded the biggest increase in numbers of foreign visitors in August. The number jumped by 123.63 percent compared with the same month last year,” BPS head Suryamin said, The Jakarta Post quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Meanwhile, Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the country’s main tourist gateway, saw an 8.92 percent rise in tourist arrivals to 336,628 people in August 2014.

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta recorded 218,903 foreign visitors in August this year, up by 15.91 percent from 188,854 visitors in the same month in the previous year.

Cumulatively, the number of tourists visiting destinations across the archipelago from January to August 2014 was 6.15 million people, an increase of 9.08 percent from 5.64 million people recorded in the same period last year.

In addition, the BPS data showed that hotel occupancy rates in star-rated hotels across 27 provinces surveyed by the agency rose by 1.83 percentage points from 50.19 percent in August 2013 to 52.02 percent in August this year.

“If we compare with the rates in July [2014], the [August 2014] rates recorded a 2.93 percent growth from 49.09 percent,” he said, adding that Bali recorded the highest occupancy rate with 62.07 percent in August, followed by Yogyakarta and Jakarta with 59.63 percent and 56.75 percent, respectively.(T/P009/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)