A street festival in Bali, Indonesia. VNA/VNS Photo Đỗ Quyên

JAKARTA The number of foreign visitors to Indonesia exceeded 10 million as of September, inching closer to the full-year target of 14 million, according to the Southeast Asian country's Central Statistics Agency.

It reported that from January to September, international arrivals rose by 20.28 per cent year-on-year, totaling 10.37 million. However, the figure remains below pre-pandemic levels. By the same period in 2019, the country had recorded over 12 million foreign tourist arrivals.

In September alone, Indonesia welcomed 1.28 million foreign tourists, a year-on-year rise of 19.53 per cent but a 4.5 per cent decrease from August.

Neighbouring countries Malaysia, Australia, China, and Singapore remain among the largest contributors to Indonesia’s international visitor numbers.

The average spending per foreign tourist was recorded at US$1,375 per visit.

The agency's Acting Head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said that this amount is lower than the previous quarter’s average foreign tourist spending of $1,443.

In addition to foreign arrivals, domestic tourism has seen a surge, with 757.96 million trips by local tourists in the nine months leading up to September, marking a 21 per cent increase from the same period last year.

The hotel occupancy rate for January through September averaged 51.33 per cent, reflecting a significant recovery in the tourism sector from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNA/VNS