JAKARTA ~

The number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in the first three months rose by 3.51 percent from 2,221,352 people to 2,299,288 in the corresponding period last year, stated Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya.

In his statement here on Saturday, the minister noted that foreign tourist arrivals in March 2015 reached 789,596 people as compared to only 765,607 recorded in the same month last year.

Foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia were dominated by the nation’s major tourism markets such as Malaysia, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, followed by South Korea, the United States, India, Taiwan, and Australia.

“Of all the 10 biggest markets, China contributed 26,647 tourists, the second-highest after Malaysia, with 28,384 visitors,” he pointed out. The minister affirmed that Indonesia needs to boost the number of tourist arrivals from China in order to realize the government’s target of 12 million tourist arrivals to the country by the end of this year.

“As compared to last year, Chinese tourist arrivals were recorded at around 900 thousand. We have set a target to attract 2 million tourists from China this year,” Arief remarked.

The Indonesian government has made various efforts to increase tourist arrivals, including the launch of the Cheng Ho Sea Route in the Golden City Bengkong tourism area in Batam, Riau Islands.

Minister Yahya has set the Cheng Ho Sea Route as his ministry’s main program to increase foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia, particularly from China and other potential Asian markets.

The government has also increased the number of direct flights from several big cities in China to various main destinations in Indonesia such as Bali and Jakarta.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Tourism and the Indonesian government’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign tourist arrivals through the country’s 19 gateways recorded the highest increase in tourist arrivals in March 2015, with 38.82 percent visitors from Bahrain, 25.57 percent from Egypt, 22.36 percent from Saudi Arabia, 14.96 percent from China, and 13.16 percent from Japan.

Moreover, tourist arrivals from three main gateways such as Bali, Jakarta, and Batam showed an increase. Cumulatively, during the period between January and March 2015, Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali recorded the highest increase in tourist arrivals, with a 12.26 percent increase in visitors and Batam recording an increase of 5.80 percent in tourist arrivals.

Meanwhile, the country’s main gateway, Soekarno Hatta International Airport recorded a 4.04 percent decline in foreign tourist arrivals.