"Jakarta experienced a surge in the number of foreign tourists in January 2022, reaching 14,089 visits," Head of Jakarta Statistics Anggoro Dwitjahyono said in an official statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.
The figure rose 1,028.9 percent compared to the same month in 2021, when the number of visits was recorded at just 1,248, he said.
Despite the increase, the current number of foreign tourists is still 92 percent lower than before the pandemic, he said. In January 2019, foreign tourist visits to Jakarta were recorded at 175,159, he said.
He explained that the soaring number of foreign tourist visits has shown that tourism is slowly improving amid the COVID-19 resurgence, he said.
This is due to the government's efforts to open international arrivals while tightening the monitoring of foreign travelers and increasing vaccinations in the country, he said.
"Compared to December 2021 (month on month), the number of foreign tourist arrivals in January 2022 fell by 15.9 percent," Dwitjahyono informed.
Based on data recorded at the entry gates, in January 2022, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Jakarta via Soekarno-Hatta Airport was recorded at 14,073, while just 16 tourists entered the country via Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, he said.
By region, foreign tourist arrivals were dominated by Asia travelers (5,940 or 42.2 percent), he added. The number of foreign tourist arrivals from Africa increased 100.9 percent compared to December 2021, he noted.
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Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors from other regions experienced a decline: ASEAN (10.1 percent), Asia other than ASEAN (12.2 percent), Middle East (25.8 percent), Europe (27.3 percent), the US(0.4 percent), and Oceania (13.7 percent), he informed.
Based on nationality, travelers from China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, and India dominated arrivals, he said. The number of tourists from China touched a high of 2,070 (14.7 percent) in early 2022, he said.
South Korea came next, accounting for 1,068 or 7.6 percent of visits, Japan with 972 visits (6.9 percent), Russia 972 visits (6.9 percent), and India 858 visits (6.1 percent), he added.
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Translator: Ricky P, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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