"Although there is an increase, the increase is very little and the graph is very low. When compared to November 2020, the graphs coincide, meaning that there has been no significant increase compared to last year (2020)," BPS head Margo Yuwono said during a virtual press conference on Monday.
There was an increase of 6.04 percent in the number of foreign tourist visits in November 2021 compared to November 2020, he noted.
Of the total tourists arriving in Indonesia in November 2021, 19.91 thousand foreign tourists used air transportation, 33.63 thousand used sea transportation, and 99.66 thousand used land transportation, he informed.
The total tourist arrivals from January to November 2021 reached 1.48 million, a drastic drop of 61.82 percent compared to the same period of 2020, Yuwono said.
Of the tourists arriving in the January–November 2021 period, 119.46 thousand used air transportation, 407.86 thousand used sea transportation, and 957.57 thousand used land transportation, he added.
He said that the tourism sector still faces many challenges to boosting tourist numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
He deemed complete healthcare necessary in order to invigorate the national tourism sector.
"Indeed, the challenge is quite difficult, because to reach the number as before, it requires complete health management, so that global trust in COVID-19 handling in Indonesia can be good, (thereby) encouraging tourism in Indonesia to increase," he added.
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Translator: Sella P G, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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