Only 160 Thousand Foreign Tourists in Indonesia in June 2020

JAKARTA - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in June 2020 experienced a drop of 88.82%.  The number of visits per June was only 160.28 thousand, while the same period in 2019 was 1.43 million.

Compared to May, the number of foreign tourists visiting in June also decreased by 2.06%.

Meanwhile, cumulatively from January to June, the number of foreign tourists in Indonesia reached 3.09 million visits down 59.96% compared with the number of foreign tourists visiting the same period in 2019 which was 7.72 million visits.

"The impact of COVID-19 has been extraordinary since February. The recovery will take a long time," he said, in a virtual press conference on Monday, August 3.

Suhariyanto said, the room occupancy rate (TPK) of star classification hotels in Indonesia reached an average of 19.70% in June 2020, down 32.57 points compared to the TPK in June 2019 which was recorded at 52.27%.

In addition, if compared to the May 2020 TPK, the TPK of star classification hotels in June 2020 increased by 5.25 points.

"The average length of stay of foreign and Indonesian guests at star classification hotels during June 2020 was 1.69 days, a decrease of 0.08 points compared to June 2019," he said.

There Starts a Movement in the Tourism Sector

According to Suhariyanto, the majority of foreign tourists came through the air entrance, which is 1.46 thousand visits. The number of foreign tourists visiting by air in June rose by 198.57 percent compared to May, which was 489 thousand visits. However, it still dropped 99.82% compared to June with 829.06 thousand visits.

The highest percentage increase occurred at Kualanamu Airport, North Sumatra, Sultan Badarudin II Airport, South Sumatra, and Juanda Airport, East Java. "This increase occurred at all air entrances, except Ngurah Rai, Bali, which experienced a 70.59% decline," he said.

Then, the number of tourists coming through the sea entrance is 49.47 thousand visits.  Meanwhile, foreign tourists who came through the sea entrance in June 2020 fell by 87.19 percent from 386.15 thousand visits in June 2019 to 49.47 thousand visits.

However, when compared to May, the number of foreign tourists who were visiting through the sea entrance had increased by 2.13%. Meanwhile, foreign tourists who enter by land as many as 109.36 thousand visits. Tourists visiting through the land entrance in June 2020 decreased 50.04% from 218.88 thousand in June 2019 to only 109.36 thousand visits this year.

Meanwhile, when compared to May 2020 the number of foreign tourists who were visiting through the land entrances also decreased by 4.68%. According to Suhariyanto, the increase in visits indicates that foreign tourists begin to come. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended. He considered this increase was triggered by government policies that were easing the PSBB transition period.

"There is movement, but the position is still far from normal. So, we still have to work hard to attract foreign tourists to Indonesia. The key, COVID-19 must pass and the application of health protocols," he said.

On the other hand, based on nationality, most came from East Timor as many as 82.48 thousand visits, equivalent to 51.46% of total visits.

Followed by Malaysia 62.76 thousand visits or 39.15%, China 2.06 thousand visits or 1.29% equivalent, Philippines 1.16 thousand visits, 0.97% equivalent, and Papua New Guinea 1.26 thousand visits or 0.79%.