BPS: International Tourist Visits Drop Over 80 Percent in 2020
Translator
Ricky Mohammad Nugraha
Editor
Markus Wisnu Murti
Senin, 2 November 2020 17:20 WIB
Statistics Indonesia (BPS) head Suhariyanto. TEMPO/Fikri Arigi
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Statistics Indonesia (BPS) announced Monday that foreign tourist numbers in September only amounted to 153.5 thousand visits, which were an 88.9 percent drop compared to the same month in 2019.
“Many countries prohibit its citizens from traveling overseas because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said BPS Head Suhariyanto in Monday’s press conference.
The figures are also a 5.94 percent drop compared to the month before in September 2020.
According to the BPS head, foreign tourist visits in September this year are generally visits for business and other forms of work-related trips, while tourists on vacation remain a rare sight amid the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
Along January up to September this year, the BPS recorded 3.56 million visits from international tourists—a 70.57 percent drop compared to the same period last year.