Whoosh High-Speed Train Brings Nearly 70,000 Foreign Tourists to West Java by May 2026: BPS

Bandung (ANTARA) - The Whoosh high-speed railway has become a significant new gateway and magnet for the movement of foreign nationals towards West Java throughout the first five months of 2026, bringing almost 70,000 foreign tourists, according to BPS.

“During the January-May 2026 period, an accumulation of 69,874 arrivals of foreign nationals to West Java via Whoosh Stations was recorded. Specifically in May 2026, foreign arrivals surged by 27.32 per cent (month-to-month/mtm) to 17,523 visits, with Padalarang Station being the most dominant exit point at 86.62 per cent,” said the Head of the West Java Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), Margaretha Ari Anggorowati, in Bandung on Wednesday.

Ari explained that, in addition to the high-speed rail, direct visits by international tourists via Kertajati International Airport in May 2026 reached 241 visits, growing by 11.06 per cent monthly, dominated by Singaporean nationals at 48.96 per cent and Malaysians at 12.45 per cent.

Due to these conditions, tourism activity is becoming increasingly robust, driven by the massive mobility of domestic tourists in West Java, which exceeded 19.52 million trips in May 2026. Consequently, the total accumulated domestic trips for January-May 2026 reached 93.45 million, an increase of 5.78 per cent annually.

“The regions that remain primary favourites for domestic travel are Bogor Regency at 15.70 per cent and Bandung City at 10.88 per cent,” said Ari.

She noted that the surge in tourist arrivals has had a positive impact on the Room Occupancy Rate (TPK) of star-rated hotels, which rose by 1.95 points to 48.21 per cent, with the highest occupancy in Purwakarta Regency at 66.83 per cent. Non-star hotel occupancy also crept up by 2.18 points to 26.19 per cent.

In the public transport sector, the total volume of Whoosh high-speed rail users grew by 5.23 per cent, while conventional train passengers increased by 6.95 per cent monthly.

Nevertheless, she continued, the most fantastic surge actually occurred in the performance of international air transport at Kertajati Airport, which soared by 93.98 per cent, triggered by the Hajj season.

“The drastic surge in these international flight routes was caused by the momentum of the departure of Hajj pilgrims from West Java via Kertajati Airport. This also impacted the international air cargo sector, which also surged by 107.90 per cent (mtm),” said Ari.