Chinese Tourist Arrivals in Indonesia Rise 25.5% in Q1 2026

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The number of foreign tourist visits from China to Indonesia during the first quarter (Q1) of this year reached 357,740 visits, an increase of 25.5% compared to the same period last year, according to data from Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).

With this realisation, China contributed 10.4% of the total foreign tourist visits to Indonesia, which reached 3.4 million visits in Q1 this year, making it the third largest country after Malaysia and Australia. The majority of Chinese tourists entered Indonesia via Jakarta and Bali.

Last month, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia presented an Indonesian pavilion at the Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) 2026, promoting various popular tourist destinations such as Bali, Labuan Bajo, and Bromo. During the three-day exhibition, Indonesia recorded more than 100 business leads from prospective partners, most of whom were Chinese travel agents.

China has long been one of the largest contributors of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia. However, amid the escalation of conflict in the Middle East that hampers travel from European countries to Indonesia, the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia is preparing strategies to attract more tourists from the Asian and Oceanian regions, including China.

This strategy is supported by the availability of more direct flight routes that do not need to pass through conflict areas.

Meanwhile, the trend of domestic tourists travelling to China also shows an increasing pattern. The latest data indicates that of the total 793.1 thousand domestic tourist trips abroad in March 2026, 10.7% of them were destined for China. This percentage increased compared to the previous month, which was only 5.46%, placing China as the top destination after Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.