Indonesia’s foreign tourist arrivals rise almost 12% in May

Jakarta (Reuters): Foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia rose 11.99% in May from a year ago, slowing from April’s 14.45% growth, the statistics bureau said on Friday.

There were 841,723 foreign tourists visiting Indonesia in May, up from 811,233 in April, it said.

The total number of foreigners visiting, including those passing through Indonesia’s borders from neighbouring countries and foreign workers with permits for less than year, was 915,206 in May.

Indonesia’s government wants to expand the tourism sector to help reduce the country’s reliance on exporting raw commodities.

The government aims to attract 20 million foreign visitors a year by 2019, more than double the 9.73 million attracted last year.

As part of efforts to grow the sector, the government has allowed increased foreign ownership in tourism-related businesses.