Malaysia Dominates Visitor Arrivals as BPS Records 1.09 Million Foreign Tourist Visits to Indonesia in March 2026

Jakarta, VIVA – The Central Statistics Agency (BPS), through its Deputy for Distribution and Services Statistics, Ateng Hartono, reported a significant surge in tourism visits, both from foreign tourists (wisman) and domestic tourists (wisnus), in March 2026.

BPS recorded that the number of wisman visits in March 2026 reached 1.09 million, an increase of 10.50 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.

Cumulatively, the number of wisman visits from January to March 2026 was recorded at 3.44 million, growing 8.62 per cent year-on-year compared to the same period in 2025.

“Wisman visits from January to March 2026 represent the highest achievement since 2020,” said Ateng during a teleconference press briefing on Monday, 4 May 2026.

By country of origin, Ateng reported that wisman, or tourists from Malaysia, still dominated the visits, with a total of 186,530 visits or 17.14 per cent of the total wisman in that period.

Meanwhile, for domestic tourists, there was a sharp surge with a total number of trips reaching 126.34 million, a significant jump of 42.10 per cent year-on-year compared to March 2025.

Ateng added that cumulatively, the total trips by domestic tourists from January to March 2026 reached 319.51 million trips, up 13.14 per cent compared to the same period the previous year.

This increase, Ateng acknowledged, aligns with the heightened mobility of the population during the Eid al-Fitr 1447 Hijriah period, accompanied by a surge in all modes of transport, which also saw an increase in passenger numbers during that time.

Ateng stated that rail transport recorded the highest number of passengers at 48.14 million people, up 17.76 per cent from March 2025. Meanwhile, domestic air transport served 5.62 million passengers, an increase of 32.35 per cent.

In addition, Ateng continued, there was also an increase in domestic sea transport reaching 3.12 million passengers, up 26.72 per cent, as well as international air transport with 1.54 million passengers, growing 8.14 per cent.

“And for ferry transport, there was a surge of up to 72.73 per cent, with a total of 7.06 million passengers,” he said.