Ramadan Caused an 8% Drop in Foreign Tourist Visits in May 2018

Based on data released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in May 2018 decreased by 7.65% to 1.2 million visits, compared to 1.3 million visits the previous month. This decrease is attributed to the beginning of Ramadan in mid-May, particularly affecting tourists from Malaysia and the Middle East.

Foreign tourist arrivals have declined for two consecutive months and reached their lowest point in the last four months. However, compared to the same month of the previous year, there was a 4.55% increase. Similarly, the cumulative number of arrivals for the January-May 2018 period increased by 11.89% to 6.26 million, compared to 5.1 million visits during the same period the previous year.

Throughout May 2018, Chinese tourists were the most numerous, reaching 181,500 visits, surpassing Malaysian tourists at 180,100 visits. With the arrival of Ramadan, foreign tourist arrivals from Malaysia in May this year decreased by 16.2%, and from Saudi Arabia by 70.12% to 2,900,000 visits. Based on entry points, air arrivals decreased by 5.18% to 803,000 visits, sea arrivals decreased by 19.41% to 191,000 visits, and land arrivals decreased by 4.44% to 207,000 visits.