Initially, NTB set a fairly high target of 4.5 million visitors for this year, but because COVID-19 has not completely subsided, the target was corrected to 2.5 million tourist visitsMataram, West Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA) - The West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Tourism Service is upbeat about achieving the target of two million tourist visits to the region by the end of 2022.
"Initially, NTB set a fairly high target of 4.5 million visitors for this year, but because COVID-19 has not completely subsided, the target was corrected to 2.5 million tourist visits," Secretary of the NTB Tourism Service, Lalu Hasbulwadi, stated here on Wednesday.
Hasbulwadi said his side remains optimistic that with the several international-scale activities in NTB, especially in Lombok Island, the number of tourists visiting NTB would increase by the end of the year, and especially when compared to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the number of visits this year had started to show improvement.
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"From this indicator, there was an increase in our tourist visits. We hope that at least two million visits in 2022 would be achieved," Hasbulwadi noted.
From the results of field monitoring in several leading tourist destinations, such as Gili Tramena (Trawangan, Meno, and Air) in North Lombok District, no less than 1,500 foreign tourists visited the area in one day. Most of the tourists came from Bali, aboard speed boats or fast boats, that routinely provide crossing services for the Bali-Lombok route.
"We continue to monitor the movement of domestic and foreign tourists in some of our tourist objects, both in strategic national tourism areas and strategic tourism areas for the NTB region and districts and cities," Hasbulwadi stated.
In addition, properties, such as villas, resorts, and hotels, with foreign tourists as their target market, have an average occupancy rate above 50 percent. Meanwhile, for city hotels, the average occupancy is still ranging from below 50 percent to 80 percent, he remarked.
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According to Hasbulwadi, foreign tourists visiting NTB mostly come from Europe, reaching 47 percent; Asia Pacific, 26 percent; the United States, 14 percent; and the remaining 13 percent from other countries.
"The number of tourists also seems to have increased," he remarked.
Based on the release of NTB Statistics Indonesia (BPS) in early September, in July 2022, the number of guests staying in star-rated hotels was recorded at 68,069, comprising 59,377 domestic guests, constituting 87.23 percent, and 8,692 foreign guests,12.77 percent.
The number of guests staying at non-star hotels in July 2022 reached 56,262 people, comprising 50,342 domestic guests, constituting 89.48 percent, and 5,920 foreign guests, or 10.52 percent.
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Translator: Nur Imansyah, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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