Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said that Indonesia’s tourism sector has bright prospects. In the G-20 group of largest economies, Indonesia constitutes the country that shows the highest growth pace in foreign tourist arrivals amid an improvement in the global tourism industry in 2014. This year global tourists are estimated to grow between 4.0 and 4.5 percent.

According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Indonesia may record a 14.2 percentage point growth in foreign visitor arrivals and a 6.3 percentage point growth in domestic tourists in 2014.

The number of foreign tourists that visited Bali in the first six months of this year (January-June 2014) rose 15.75 percent to 1.72 million from the same period last year. Most of these 1.72 million tourists were from Australia (25.8 percent), followed by China (15.3 percent), Malaysia (6.3 percent) and Japan (5.4 percent). The local government of Bali targets to welcome a total of three million foreign tourists on the island in 2014. Traditionally, Bali is the most popular tourist destination in Indonesia as the island offers beautiful scenery (rice fields, mountains and beaches), culture (related to Balinese Hinduism) and lively nightlife.


Foreign Tourist Arrivals in Indonesia - 2013-2014:

Month  Tourist Arrivals
         2013
 Tourist Arrivals
         2014
January        614,328        753,079
February        678,415        702,666
March        725,316        765,607
April        646,117        726,332
May        700,708        752,363
June        789,594        789,594
July        717,784  
August        771,009  
September        770,878  
October        719,900  
November        807,422  
December        766,966  
Total       8,802,129       4,551,522


Foreign Tourists Arrivals in Indonesia - 2007-2014:

    2007   2008   2009   2010   2011   2012   2013   2014¹
Foreign Tourists
(in millions)
  5.51   6.23   6.32   7.00   7.65   8.04    8.80    9.50

¹ indicates government target
Source: Statistics Indonesia (BPS)

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