In the first 5 months of the year, from January through May 2013, international tourist arrivals to Indonesia rose by 5.79% although amidst global economic uncertainties, said Mari Elka Pangestu, Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy at a news conference on Monday, 1 July.
This means that Indonesia is on track to achieve this year?s target of international visitors, aimed at 8.6 million visitors. While, the month of May 2013 registered a growth of 7.65% over the same month last year. Indonesia has seen a continued increase in visitors on account of the many events, concerts, meetings and conventions held in the past months and are still to be held to the end of the year.
International concerts featuring among others,?Air Supply, SuperJunior,?Lenka?and many others in?Jakarta, as well as events such as the?Bintan?Triathlon and Vesak celebrations at the?Borobudur temple?have all attracted a great number of participants especially from Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.
Moreover, in the coming months to the end of the year, a number of important international conferences and events are to be held in Indonesia, which include?The APEC Summit?in early October,?Miss World Contest?in September the?9th WTO Ministerial Conference, and many others. APEC alone will hold 96 meetings in the country, while some 1,200 CEOs are expected to attend the Summit.
Top tourist markets to Indonesia are?Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China?and?Japan. With visitors from China increasing by 13.83% in May compared to the previous month of April.
Other nationals who came in increasing numbers in the first 5 months period were from the UAE (+ 81.15%), Egypt (19.61%),Saudi Arabia (18.3%) and Thailand (16.15%).
While among the archipelago?s 19 international entry ports,?Bandung?s Husein Sastranegara airport in West Java saw the largest growth of international passengers, surging by 42.64%.
All the above will ensure that the coming months will not only see increased arrivals but also increased visitors? spending, said Minister Mari Pangestu, since MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) visitors are known to spend more at around US$ 3,000 per visit compared to the average leisure tourist, who spends US$ 1,000 per visit.
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