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)