Tourist arrivals increase 22 percent

Tourist arrivals increase 22 percent

JAKARTA (JP): The number of tourist arrivals in Indonesia
during the first three months this year increased by 22 percent
to 742,216 from 608,581 in the same period last year.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications, Sjamsuddin Tanuatmadja, said yesterday that
608,581 foreign tourists visited Indonesia last month and they
spent US$869.68 million, an average of $1,171.73 per person.

The number of visitors is calculated at the country's six main
gates including Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra, Denpasar in
Bali, Batam in Riau, Surabaya in East Java and Manado in North
Sulawesi.

The tourist industry has shown expansion in both the number of
hotels and tourist arrivals. The number of star-rated hotel rooms
increased by 5.4 percent to 47,670 as of last December from
45,245 as of the end of 1992. The number of rooms at non-star
hotels rose 1.6 percent to 110,390 from 108,609.

Hotels have an average occupancy rate of 53 percent, with
three-star to five-star hotel rooms with average occupancy of 60
percent.

The number of tourist arrivals increased by 11 percent to 3.4
million last year from 3.06 million in 1992. It is expected to
continue increasing to 3.8 million this year and 6.5 million in
1998. The foreign exchange received from foreign tourists rose to
$3.6 billion last year from $3.27 billion in the previous year.
(icn)