The number of European tourists that visited Indonesia during that period reached 532 thousand, or increased by 680 percent, as compared to the corresponding period last year, she noted during the Virtual Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno on Monday.
Meanwhile, the number of US tourists that visited Indonesia from January to April 2023 stood at 108.4 thousand, or increased by 652 percent.
"Therefore, there is a positive growth from these two regions," she pointed out.
While Europe is experiencing a recession and the United States may experience the same, the impact of recession had yet to take effect on the number of tourists visiting Indonesia this month.
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Meanwhile, Indonesia is one of the most searched Asian countries on the internet, she stated.
"This shows that Indonesia in at the top of the mind of the United States market. The challenge lies in how we can convert these searches into tourist visits," she noted.
Earlier, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno opined that the impact of European and US recession will not hinder efforts to achieve the target of 8.5 million international tourist visits in 2023.
"The ones that are entering the recession zone are not only Europe but also the United States. There must be an impact," he remarked.
"However, we believe that the European and United States tourists' visit target still matches what we plan, and in fact, we raised the target to 8.5 million on the whole," he stated.
Uno said his ministry is also making efforts, so that prospective tourists affected by the recession can utilize the momentum to relax or recover from mental pressure through healing tourism.
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Translator: Sinta Ambarwati, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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