JAKARTA: Indonesia welcomed 1.48 million foreign tourists in July, extending the upward trend after an initial decline in the first three months of this year.
“There was a 4.62% increase on a monthly basis and a 13.01% increase year-on-year (y-o-y),” Pudji Ismartini, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) deputy for distribution and services, said on Monday.
The cumulative number of foreign nationals visiting the country from January to July amounted to 8.53 million, up 10.04% compared with the same period last year.
However, the figure is still below pre-pandemic levels, with the equivalent period in 2019 recording 9.18 million visitors.
In early 2025, foreign arrivals declined steadily from January, falling to a low of 984,770 in March before rebounding in the following months, with air travel currently accounting for 84.5% of total entries.
“Based on the main entry point, most foreign tourists entered through Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.
“These visits were dominated by Australian tourists, and the increase in arrivals at Ngurah Rai airport was partly driven by the Australian winter school vacation,” Pudji explained.
Meanwhile, 12.43% of foreign visitors arrived by sea and 3.07% by land.
Visitors from Malaysia accounted for the largest share of inbound tourism in July at 14.32%, followed by Australians at 11.69%, Chinese at 9.76% and Singaporeans at 7.71%.
While inbound tourism saw rapid growth, the number of domestic tourists declined by 4.68% month-on-month (m-o-m) in July.
However, the BPS noted that the figure still represented a 29.72% increase y-o-y.
In addition, the agency recorded a 19.57% m-o-m rise in outbound tourism, though the total number of Indonesians travelling abroad fell by 5.24% y-o-y.
Malaysia ranked as the top destination, accounting for 31.66% of outbound Indonesian travellers, followed by Saudi Arabia (18.3%), Singapore (13.55%) and China (6.24%).
Indonesian tourism has been seeking to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which wreaked havoc on international travel. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
