Tourist arrivals fall 19%

JAKARTA (JP): The number of overseas tourists visiting Indonesia slumped by about 19 percent to 2.91 million people during the first 10 months of this year, down from 3.56 million people during the same period last year, the Ministry for Tourism, Arts and Culture reported on Wednesday.

The lowest level of tourist arrivals occurred in May when massive unrest hit Jakarta, leading to the resignation of former president Soeharto. Only 226,700 overseas tourists visited the country during the month.

The peak level was recorded in August when tourist arrivals reached a total of 352,500, the ministry said.

Foreign exchange receipts from tourism in the Jan. to Oct. period were estimated to reach US$2.94 billion, a 19.5 percent drop from the $3.65 billion recorded over the same period last year. (29)