The Nation Statistics Board (BPS) reports that international visitors coming to Indonesia via the Country’s main gateways in March 2020 reached 40,790, representing a 206.25% increase compared to March 2021.
Quoted by NusaBali.com, the BPS Chief Margo Yuwono told a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, 16 May 2022: “The number of foreign tourists in March 2022 increased significantly compared with March 2021. If March 2022 is compared to February, the increase was 121.02%
March international arrivals comprised 39,060 arrivals by air, 1,409 by sea, and overland 319. In March 2022, the number of air arrivals increased 203.94% compared to March 2021.
In Bali, observers say an even more dramatic increase in foreign arrivals is being curtailed somewhat by the rising cost of air travel and limited flight frequency. Based on the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (GIPI) calculations, Bali has 12,000 – 15,000 visitors arriving each day by inter-island ferry. The number of air passengers landing each day at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is around 10,000 passengers.
The large number of domestic visitors bringing their vehicles to Bali during the recent Idul Fitri Holidays resulted in almost unprecedented traffic jams in many parts of the Island. This has evoked a recommendation from a senior official at GIPI that domestic tourists who rent vehicles in Bali would help reduce traffic congestion and provide added income to the Island’s economy.
For Q1 of 2022 (January-March), foreign arrivals via Indonesia’s main gateways totaled 74,380 – an increase of 228.24% over Q1 2021. While the year-on-year increase in international arrivals in Q1 in Indonesia is impressive, the numbers still pale compared to arrivals for Q1 in the pre-COVID years when as many as 3 million visitors came to the Country.
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