"The number is temporary because there are still districts and cities that have not submitted data and do not include foreign tourists whose number has doubled when compared to last year's number of visits," Head of the Tourism Marketing Division of the Youth, Sports, and Tourism Office of Central Java Province Setyo Irawan stated in Semarang, Friday.
He noted that in 2023, there will be a change in the trend of tourist visits as indicated by the number of tourists that tends to decrease as compared to 2022.
In 2022, some 5.3 million people visited tourist destinations, and the decline in the number of tourist visits was influenced by several factors, including the euphoria among residents currently tending to choose to stay in touch with relatives rather than travel.
"As compared to last year, there was a decrease of around 28 percent. The factor is that the trend of society is now changing, as road access is good, so they choose to stay in touch with family rather than travel," he remarked.
Based on this, his side will conduct an evaluation with tourism actors and managers of tourist attractions.
Despite a decrease in the number of domestic tourists, this did not apply to foreign tourist visits since based on data, the number of foreign nationals traveling to Central Java reached 10,333 people during the 2023 Eid holiday.
In comparison with last year, foreign tourists visiting Central Java jumped by 240.99 percent because in 2022, only 3,025 foreign tourists visited Central Java during the similar period.
"There are several factors, such as the opening of international flights. In Central Java and DIY (Yogyakarta), there are three airports, Ahmad Yani Airport, Adi Soemarmo Airport, and YIA in Yogyakarta which is close to Borobudur. There are also factors for overseas promotion and relaxation of the COVID-19 protocols," he remarked.
Irawan noted that several tourist destinations were the target of foreign tourists, such as Borobudur Temple in Magelang District, Prambanan Temple Park on the Klaten-Sleman border, Yogyakarta, Punthuk Setumbu, Mendut and Pawon temples in Magelang District, and Plaosan Temple in Klaten District.
Meanwhile, tourist destinations thronged by Indonesian tourists were the Great Mosque of Sheikh Zayed Solo, with 310 thousand people; the Old City of Semarang, with 199,196 people; Prambanan Temple, with 98,475 people; Borobudur Temple, 93,552 people; and Sikidang Crater in Banjarnegara, with 80,649 people.
The hotel occupancy rate in Central Java during the Eid holiday is estimated to reach 65 percent, with the number of guests staying during the April 19-26, 2023, period averaging 741 people per hotel and an average stay of 1.5 days.
"In terms of the multiplier effect, we have conducted a study on the average tourists spending Rp3.6 million for travel expenses," he remarked.
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Translator: Wisnu Adhi Nugroho, Cindy Frishanti Octavia
Editor: Sri Haryati
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