Jakarta – Malaysia has taken over China's position as the largest contributing country of tourists to Indonesia in April, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).
The BPS said on Monday that foreign tourists visiting Indonesia reached 1.3 million in April, 215,339 of which came from Malaysia or 16.56 percent of all foreign tourists. Malaysian tourist arrivals had grown 25.53 percent year on year (yoy) in April.
The second-largest contributing country was China, which had sent 185,167 tourists or 14.24 percent of total tourist arrivals in April, with 9.97 percent yoy growth.
The arrivals of more Malaysian tourists to Indonesia was supported by the opening of new flight routes, such as Miri-Pontianak and Kuching-Pontianak, said BPS head Suhariyanto.
"The opening of new routes facilitates Malaysian tourists to visit Indonesia. Any opening of direct flights had a significant impact on tourist arrivals," he added.
The number of tourist arrivals in April declined 4.59 percent from the previous month, but compared to the figure in April, 2017, it had grown 11.04 percent yoy.
In April arrivals at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, the main gate of the country, declined 8.45 percent, while arrivals in Batam, Riau Islands declined 0.31 percent, from arrivals in March.
Meanwhile, arrivals at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport increased 6.46 percent from March. "The cumulative tourist arrivals from January to April reached 4.9 million," he added. (bbn)