2017-2020 Period, Foreign Tourists Dominate The Visit To Komodo Island

A number of tourists climb the peak of Padar Island to witness the natural beauty of the Komodo National Park (TNK) in West Manggarai, NTT (Kornelis Kaha)

JAKARTA - The Komodo National Park Office noted that foreign tourists dominated the visit to the Komodo Island National Park in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara during 2017-2020, totaling 348,459 people.

"During the last four years (2017-2020), visits to Komodo National Park have been dominated by foreign tourists," said the Head of the Komodo National Park, Lukita Awang Nistyantara, reported by Antara, Thursday, January 7.

Of the 567,253 tourists who visited, he added, 348,459 of them were foreign tourists and the rest were domestic tourists.

According to him, the trend of tourist visits to Komodo National Park during 2017-2019 has increased quite significantly.

However, in 2020 the decline drastically due to the closure of the area and restrictions on visits to the area due to COVID-19.

In 2017, he said, the number of tourists visiting the area was recorded at 117,102 people, consisting of 69,893 foreign tourists and 47,209 domestic tourists.

This number increased to 176,830 tourists in 2018, consisting of 121,409 foreign tourists and 55,421 domestic tourists.

And in 2019, the number of tourists visiting Komodo National Park increased to 221,703 people, consisting of 144,068 foreign tourists and 77,635 domestic tourists.

"In 2020, only 51,618 tourists visit Komodo Island," he said.

He added that tourist visits to the Komodo National Park area were still limited, in accordance with health protocols.

"For 2021, there are still restrictions on the number of tourist visits to the Komodo National Park, while waiting for the opening of phase three in accordance with the development of COVID-19," he said.