Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in October 2021 increased by 21.73 percent compared to September 2021, the head of the Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Margo Yuwono, has said.

"In October 2021, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia reached 151,000. Compared to September 2021, there was an increase of 21.73 percent," Margo said at a virtual press conference here on Wednesday (Dec. 1).

However, he added, the number of foreign tourist visits still declined by 0.83 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Data from the agency show that there has not been a significant increase in foreign tourist visits throughout 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the 151,000 foreign tourist visits to Indonesia in October 2021, 63 percent of them travelled by land, 24 percent by sea, and 11 percent by air.

According to Margo, the highest number of visits by land was recorded in Atambua city in East Nusa Tenggara province, amounting to 64 visits, or decreased by 12.33 percent compared to the previous month.

Meanwhile, the highest number of visits by air was recorded at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten province as many as 13,700, or an increase of 235.70 percent compared to September.

The BPS also recorded that Batam city in Riau Islands province had the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals by sea with 158 visits, or an increase of 22.48 percent compared to the previous month.

According to nationality, the majority of foreign tourists came from Timor Leste at 52.2 percent, followed by Malaysians at 30.2 percent, Chinese at 4 percent, and other countries at 13.6 percent.

"The highest increase in visits came from Yemen, which increased by 426.09 percent, although only 121 visits," Margo noted.

Cumulatively, the number of foreign tourists visiting in the 2021 January-October period reached 1.3 million. This figure decreased by 64.37 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, which reached 3.7 million visits.

"Tourism is the sector most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as can be seen from the cumulative number of foreign tourist visits," Margo said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window