VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a sharp year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction of 88.25 percent in foreign arrivals to Indonesia in October 2020, clocked at 158.2 thousand foreign travelers.

The number has risen slightly by 4.57 percent as compared to the foreign tourist visits observed in September 2020.

"The trend is still quite flat until October 2020, with 158.2 thousand foreign tourists," Deputy for Distribution and Service Statistics of the BPS Setianto noted here on Tuesday.

Setianto pointed out that health issues remain the biggest concern for foreign tourists, so a disciplined approach to implement stringent health protocols, including washing hands, wearing masks, and physical distancing, is deemed necessary to drive the economy.

Cumulatively, the number of foreign tourist visits during the period from January to October 2020 has reached 3.72 million, decreasing by 72.35 percent as compared to 13.45 million during the same period of last year.

The agency recorded that some 63 percent, or 99.74 thousand tourists, used land transportation to visit Indonesia, while some 45.69 thousand, or 29 percent, used sea transportation and 12.76 thousand, or eight percent, used air transportation.

"It is still far from the normal condition in 2019," he stated.

The highest number of foreign tourists came from Timor Leste, with 82.81 thousand visitors, or 52.35 percent; followed by Malaysia, 46.04 thousand, or 29.10 percent; China, 6.68 thousand, or 4.22 percent; the United States, 3.12 thousand, or 1.97 percent; and the Netherlands, 2.92 thousand, or 1.85 percent.

The room occupancy rate in October had risen to 37.48 percent as compared to the previous month, at 32.12 percent though declined by 19.3 percent from 56.77 percent in October 2019. (Antaranews)