The Kagum Group, a hospitality management company in Indonesia, is eager to expand into the sharia tourism sector by establishing a chain of sharia hotels across Indonesia. Sharia hotels are hotels that follow Islamic principles such as offering separated indoor (protected from public view) swimming pools for men and women or serving halal food and beverages (excluding pork and alcoholic drinks). Through sharia-compliant hotels, the group targets to welcome more tourists from the Middle East.

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Foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia declined 3.99 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 723,039 tourists in January 2015 according to data from Statistics Indonesia released on Monday (02/03). The primary reason for this decline is that - this year - Chinese New Year fell in February, whereas last year this event fell in January thus boosting foreign tourist arrivals in January 2014. Therefore, it is expected that tourist arrivals in February 2015 will climb sharply neutralizing the decline in the previous month.

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Statistics Indonesia announced on Friday morning (02/01) that a total of 764,461 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in November 2014, down 5.32 percent from foreign visitor arrivals in the same month last year. Cumulatively, a total of 8.52 million tourists have visited Indonesia in the January-November 2014 period, up 7.29 percent from the same period in 2013. Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister, is optimistic that this year’s target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign visitors - spending a total of USD $10.69 billion - will be achieved.

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Indonesia welcomed a total of 808,767 foreign tourists in October 2014, up 12.3 percent from the same month last year, according to official data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). Meanwhile, on a month-to-month basis, foreign tourist arrivals rose 2.2 percent from September 2014. Suryamin, Chief at BPS, said that the highest percentage increases on a month-to-month basis occurred in Adi Sucipto International Airport (Yogyakarta), followed by the Port of Tanjung Priok (Jakarta), and Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport (Riau).

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On Monday (03/11), several important macroeconomic data were released by statistics Indonesia. Firstly, inflation was relatively high in October at 0.47 percent month-on-month (m/m). Secondly, Indonesia posted another trade deficit in September (USD $270 million). Thirdly, Indonesia's October manufacturing activity showed a contraction (the country’s manufacturing Purchasing Manages' Index fell to a 14-month low of 49.2 in October). Lastly, a total of 791,300 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in September.

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The Indonesian government should improve inter and intra island connectivity to boost the number of foreign and domestic tourists in Indonesia. Due to the country’s lack of quality and quantity of infrastructure, a number of Indonesian regions that contain huge tourist potential cannot be reached easily. This was one of the conclusions drawn at a dialogue about the progress made after the Masterplan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI) has been underway for three years.

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The number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia increased 9.56 percent to 4.55 million in the first half of 2014 from 4.15 million foreign visitor arrivals in the same period last year. This result is considerably better than the government’s target of achieving an 8 percentage point growth in the first half of 2014. The Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economy is optimistic that this year’s target of welcoming 9.5 million foreign visitors in Indonesia will be realized. Last year, Indonesia was visited by 8.8 million foreign tourists.

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After seeing foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia reach 752,363 in May 2014, Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu stated that it is highly likely for Indonesia to achieve its target of 9.5 million foreign tourist arrivals this year. In the first five months of 2014, 3.70 million foreign tourists visited the world’s largest archipelago, a 9.96 percentage point growth compared to the same period in 2013 (which was 3.36 million). As usual, most foreign visitors entered Indonesia in Bali.

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During the first three months of 2014, the total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia reached 2.22 million, a 10.07 percent increase from the first quarter in 2013 (2.02 million visitors). Suryamin, Head of Statistics Indonesia, said on Friday (02/05) that - as usual - most foreign tourists (816,470) entered Indonesia through Ngurah Rai International Airport on Bali, Indonesia's most popular island in terms of tourism. Other popular points of entry in Q1-2014 were Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (located just outside Jakarta) and Batam.

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Investments in Indonesia's tourism industry are primarily aimed at the hotel and restaurant sector. Indonesia's Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu said that investments in Indonesia's tourism industry reached a total of USD $602.6 million in 2013. This consisted of foreign investments (USD $462.5 million) and domestic investments (USD $140.2 million). Pangestu said that several domestic and foreign hotel operators are eager to expand their business in Indonesia as demand increases.

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Whenever the topic of tourism in Indonesia is touched upon, most people will instantly think of Bali. This small but famous island harbors all sorts of entertainment that will appeal to various segments of international tourism: beautiful landscapes, Balinese Hinduism, lively nightclubs, beaches and more. But apart from Bali - and despite the fact that Indonesia has much to offer on other islands - the country has disappointed in attracting a large amount of foreign tourists so far.

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