INDONESIA: Indonesia Welcomed 5.47 Million Visitors In 7 Months of 2015

Visitor arrivals to Indonesia are increasing, but not at the rate that the country’s tourism officials would like.

According to the latest data from the country’s National Statistics Agency, Indonesia welcomed 5.47 million international visitors in the first seven months of the year, 2.7% more than the same period in 2014.

But the pace of growth is slowing. Last year, Indonesian arrivals increased 7.2% to 9.44m, and the government has set an ambitious target of welcoming 20m international visitors by 2019. If the current growth rates continue, the country will not come close to hitting this figure.

Despite this, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister, Arief Yahya, remains optimistic – at least of reaching the 10m visitor target for 2015.

“Indonesia recorded 4,657,817 foreign tourist arrivals in the first [half of 2015] comprising 47% of the 10 million target set for the year. We are optimistic that the target will be realised this year,” he was quoted saying by the Antara news agency.

For July 2015, Indonesia welcomed 814,233 international visitors, up 4.8% year-on-year.