Indonesia experienced a strong rise in international tourism arrivals in the first quarter of the year, and is on track to meet its full-year target, the country’s tourism minister has said.
The Antara news agency reported Mari Elka Pangestu, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism & Creative Economy, as saying that 2.22 million overseas visitors arrived in the country in the first quarter of the year, 10.1% more than in Q1 2013.
And Ms Pangestu said she is now confident of achieving the full-year target of 9.3-9.5m international arrivals for 2014.
“Tourist arrivals in the first three months of 2014 showed a positive trend, which is expected to continue until the end of the year. We are optimistic about exceeding the target of tourist arrivals in 2014,” the minister was quoted saying.
Data from Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that arrivals through the country’s three main international gateways – Bali, Jakarta and Batam – all experienced strong growth in Q1. Arrivals at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport increased 14.4% to 713,556, while those entering at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport rose 6.5% to 527,999. Arrivals into Batam, across the Malacca Strait from Singapore, climbed 7.5% in the same period, to 314,901.
Lombok International Airport saw the strongest growth however, with arrivals to the island surging 214.7% following the launch of a new airport and several new international flights.
In March alone, Indonesia welcomed 765,607 international visitors, up 5.6% year-on-year. Of this total, Singapore was the largest source market, contributing 18.1% of total arrivals, followed by Malaysia (15.0%), Australia (10.6%), China (10.2%) and Japan (4.9%).
Last year, Indonesia welcomed a record 8.8m international visitors in 2013, 9.4% more than in 2012.
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