Wardhana (left) and Ni Luh Puspa address the media at the briefing held on 14th July (ANTARA)Indonesian tourism minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana reports significant growth in terms of interest in the country’s tourism sector among both local and foreign travellers.
In a statement released to local and regional media last 14th July, Wardhana cited the most recent report from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) which shows 1.31 million foreign arrivals into the country as of May 2025.
The total reflects a year-on-year increase of 14.01 percent.
According to Wardhana: "This trend shows that in the global market, the interest in Indonesian tourism continues to increase as a whole.”
Per a report by Indonesian national news agency ANTARA, domestic tourist movement was up by 17.81 percent in May compared to where it was in the same period in 2024.
Consequently, there was a cumulative increase of around 16.13 percent seen in the first five months of this year compared to the same timeframe last year.
Foreign arrivals totaled 5.63 million towards the end of the first half of 2025, surpassing the 3.84 million Indonesian travellers who went abroad.
More Indonesians are heading overseas
During the same briefing, deputy minister of tourism Ni Luh Puspa reported that the number of Indonesians travelling overseas rose by 7,63 percent in the first five months of 2025.
However, outbound travel in May was down by 6.52 percent compared to May 2024.
Last year, there were three long weekends in May that boosted growth in domestic travel, revealing a marked preference for local destinations.
there was a 6.52 percent decrease in outbound travel in May 2025 compared to May 2024. With three long weekends that month and strong domestic travel growth, this suggests a greater preference for domestic tourist destinations.
The deputy minister cited that consistent, innovative, and integrated promotional efforts on both national and local levels, as well as collaboration with agencies, regional governments, and all tourism stakeholders, are vital to tourism growth.
In which case, Indonesia will be able to maintain its growth as a destination of choice for both local and foreign travellers through sustainable promotional strategies, as well as collaboration with relevant partners within the tourism and hospitality sectors.
