Sella Panduarsa G, Suharto, Jakarta – More than 1.56 million foreign tourists had visited Indonesia last year, down 61.57 percent as compared to a year earlier, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

"Hence, we can look at the trend of tourist arrivals during and before the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed Indonesia," BPS Chief Margo Yuwono noted during an online press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He remarked that 137.24 thousand out of the 1.56 million foreign tourists had arrived in Indonesia by air, 415.47 thousand by sea, and more than a million tourists by land.

Overall, the number of tourists from the Middle East recorded the greatest decline at 88.67 percent, while the number of tourists from Asian countries outside the ASEAN recorded the lowest decline, at 43.16 percent, as compared to the previous year.

Tourists that traveled to Indonesia last year mostly came from Timor Leste, totaling 819.49 thousand, or 52.61 percent; Malaysia, 480.72 thousand, or 30.86 percent; China, 54.71 thousand, or 3.51 percent; Papua New Guinea, 31.70 thousand, or 2.04 percent; and the United States, 21.96 thousand, or 1.41 percent.

Source: https://en.antaranews.com/news/212913/over-156-million-tourists-visited-indonesia-last-year-bp