International Tourist Arrivals in September 2018 Down 11%

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a 10.56% decrease in foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in September 2018, reaching 1.35 million visits compared to the previous month, but an 8.11% increase compared to September 2017. Cumulatively, from January to September 2018, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia increased by 11.81% to 11.93 million compared to the same period the previous year.

The government targets 17 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, but by the end of September, only about 70% of the target has been reached. Chinese tourists still dominated foreign tourist arrivals in September 2018, reaching 198,000 visits, or 14.6% of the total. This was followed by Malaysia with 197,000 visits (approximately 14.55%) and Timor Leste with 148,000 visits (10.97%).

The decrease in foreign tourist arrivals caused the occupancy rate of star-rated hotels in September to fall by 1.27 points to 58.95%, down from 60.01% the previous month. However, compared to September 2017, the occupancy rate of national star-rated hotels increased by 0.32 points. Three-star hotels recorded the largest decrease, at 4.05% compared to the previous month, followed by one-star hotels with a 3.83% decrease.