Foreign tourist arrivals up 4.14 percent

Foreign tourist arrivals up 4.14 percent

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Foreign tourist arrivals increased by 4.14 percent in July, as
travellers, encouraged by the peaceful first-round presidential
election, continued coming to the country, the Central Statistics
Agency (BPS) said on Wednesday.

The agency said the number of foreign visitors during the
month rose to more than 424,800 from over 407,900 in the previous
month.

In the first seven months of the year, the number of foreign
visitors jumped by 31.23 percent to 2.56 million, compared to
1.95 million in the same period of last year.

The government is targeting five million foreign tourists this
year, up from 4.4 million in 2003.

"The presidential election in July went quite smoothly, and
this meant foreign visitors kept coming here. The number of
visitors for the first seven months is also improved compared to
the same period last year, meaning that tourism in the country is
back on track after falling apart in 2003," BPS chief Choiril
Maksum said.

The tourism sector in Indonesia experienced a turbulent period
last year after the prolonged repercussions of the Bali bombing
in 2002 and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
epidemic.

The sector is a major foreign exchange earner for Indonesia
and employs a large number of people.

The BPS further said the average occupancy rate of star-rated
hotels in 10 major tourist destination areas in June rose
slightly by 1.51 percent to 47.44 percent, from 45.93 percent in
May.

Meanwhile, the average length of stay of foreign tourists in
star-rated hotels during June was 2.05 days, down from 2.08 days
compared to May.