Foreign tourist arrivals up in June, BPS report

Foreign tourist arrivals up in June, BPS report

JAKARTA (JP): The number of foreign visitors arriving in
Indonesia rose slightly in June to 388,900 from 367,000 in the
previous month, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) reported
on Wednesday.

The bureau attributed the 5.7 percent increase in tourist
arrivals to improvements in the domestic security situation as
well as being the peak season with many travelers on summer
vacation.

BPS said that the increase was contributed partly by a growth
of foreign visitor arrivals in Bali.

The number of foreign visitors through Ngurah Rai Airport,
which accounts for 35 percent of the country's foreign tourist
arrivals, rose by 16 percent to 135,000 in June from 118,000 in
May, it reported.

In addition to Bali, the bureau also reported that foreign
tourist arrivals at Sam Ratulangi and Hasanudin airports rose
significantly by 30.7 percent and 28.7 percent respectively in
June compared to figures from May.

However, BPS said foreign tourist arrivals fell slightly by
2.2 percent and 1.7 percent respectively in June at Soekarno-
Hatta Airport and Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta.

Indonesia has 13 international entry points, including
airports in Jakarta, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, East Java,
Central Java, West Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi and South
Sulawesi; seaports in Batam, Jakarta and Riau; and a land border
crossing in Entikong, West Kalimantan.

Commenting on the increase, Kusmadi Saleh, the bureau deputy,
said that foreign tourist arrivals had not slowed for several
years.

"The tourism sector has always been growing over the past
three years," Kusmadi said.

In the first half of 2001, foreign tourist arrivals increased
by 5.9 percent to 2.08 million from 1.95 million in the
corresponding period in 2000, he said.

If the country could maintain this growth in the coming years,
then the tourism sector might generate economic activities which
in turn would help speed the country's economic recovery, he
said.

The bureau also reported an increase in the occupancy rate of
star-rated hotels in 10 tourist destinations nationwide.

The occupancy rate of those hotels rose by 1.84 points to
44.70 percent in May, from 42.86 percent in April, the bureau
reported.

The highest occupancy rate was seen in Bali's hotels, which
averaged 59.42 percent, but that figure was 0.80 points lower
than the 60.22 percent recorded in the previous month. The
lowest, among others, were hotels in South Sulawesi, which
hovered at a 18.73 percent occupancy rate.(03)