Foreign Tourist Target on Track as Arrivals to Indonesia Rise 14%

Jakarta Globe, Yessar Rosendar, May 03, 2010

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Indonesia during the first quarter climbed 14.5 percent over the same period last year, the Central Statistics Agency announced on Monday.

This put the country on track to reaching its goal of nearly seven million foreign visitors this year.

There were 1.61 foreign tourists in the first three months of the year, compared with 1.41 million during the same quarter last year, said the agency, also known as the BPS.

Noviendi Makalam, secretary of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said that with the high season still ahead, the country was set to reach the government’s goal of 6.75 to seven million foreign tourists this year.

Noviendi added that if double-digit growth continued for the rest of the year the target would be easily surpassed.

“We only projected an 8 percent increase this year,” Noviendi said. But he also warned that an unanticipated event such as an earthquake or another major terrorist attack or demonstrations such as the ones paralyzing Bankgok, could derail growth.

“Tourism is a sector that is sensitive to security issues,” Noviendi said.

Bangkok is one of the top destinations in Asia, but political turmoil and massive protests have scared away foreigners.

According to Dow Jones Newwires, Thailand is likely to miss its target of drawing 15.5 million visitors this year.

Rising tensions between anti-government protesters and troops in Bangkok are sparking more cancellations, especially among East Asian tourists.

Foreign arrivals at Indonesia’s main tourist destination, Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport, from January through March totaled 560,845, an increase of 13.74 percent over the same period last year.

The average stay in Bali was 3.69 days in March, down from 3.75 days, while foreign tourists stayed in Jakarta an average of 2.48 days, down from 3.09 days.

However, the average length of stay in the nation’s top tourism destinations in 17 provinces, was 2.88 days in March, a slight decline from an average of three days during the year-earlier period, which was at the height of the global crisis.

Tourism professionals say the global crisis caused tourists to favor shorter stays, resulting in lower spending.