TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Central Statistics Agency or BPS recorded that foreign tourist visits from January to May 2024 reached 5.2 million people. BPS acting chief secretary Machdi said this figure reflected an increase of 23.78 percent from the same period last year.

"This is the highest in the past four years since 2020," he said in Jakarta on Monday, July 1.

On a monthly basis, the number of visits by foreigners increased by 7.36 percent. In May, the number reached 1.1 million people, with 987,000 arriving through the main entrance, while 157,000 entered through the borders.

As of May 2024, the most tourists are Malaysians, with visits from the neighboring nation increasing by 17.24 percent on a monthly basis. The second largest group of tourists are Australians, with an increase of 7.21 percent on a monthly basis. In terms of average length of stay, foreign tourists including border crossers spend about 7.51 nights in Indonesia.

Imam said that most of the tourists arrived through Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali with a total of 544,400 people. Meanwhile, the second largest entry point was Soekarno-Hatta Airport with 201,500 people, followed by Batam with 78,600, Juanda Airport in Surabaya with 31,200 and Kualanamu with 20,400.

On the same occasion, BPS deputy for production statistics Habibullah said that the increase in the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia in May was largely due to international holidays such as Vesak Day. In addition, the slightly weaker rupiah exchange rate also attracted some visitors, especially from countries with stronger exchange rates.

ILONA ESTHERINA

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