Jakarta. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a total of 3,031,756 foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia in the first quarter of 2024.

According to Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, Acting Head of BPS, foreign tourist arrivals from January to March 2024 increased by 25.43 percent compared to the same period last year.

"The number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year is the highest in the last four years," said Amalia at the BPS building in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in March 2024 reached 1,041,861 people, a decrease of 1.91 percent month-to-month and an increase of 19.86 percent year-on-year.

Amalia added that the highest proportion of foreign tourists came from Malaysia at 15.4 percent, followed by Australia at 11.9 percent, Singapore at 11.5 percent, China at 9.1 percent, Timor Leste at 6 percent, India at 5.3 percent, the United Kingdom at 3.8 percent, the United States at 3.8 percent, Japan at 2.6 percent, South Korea at 2.4 percent, and others at 28.2 percent.

"Foreign tourist arrivals from Malaysia decreased by 26.51 percent in April 2024 from the previous month, partly due to the Ramadan season. However, there was a 5.13 percent increase year-on-year," said Amalia.

Amalia continued, stating that the majority of foreign tourists entered through Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali at 44.5 percent, Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Banten at 15.45 percent, Batam Airport at 10 percent, Tanjung Uban Airport at 1.99 percent, Juanda Airport at 1.78 percent, and Kualanamu Airport at 1.45 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic tourist trips in March 2024 reached 691,550, an increase of 4.85 percent compared to February 2024 and 7.45 percent compared to the same month last year. Malaysia was the main destination for domestic tourist trips in March 2024 (29.95 percent), followed by Singapore (17.26 percent), Saudi Arabia (16.99 percent), and Thailand (4.96 percent).