Tourism in Indonesia

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. Indonesia was ranked at 20th in the world tourist Industry in 2017, also ranked as the ninth-fastest growing tourist sector in the world, the third-fastest growing in Asia and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia.^[1] In 2018, Denpasar, Jakarta and Batam are among of 10 cities in the world with fastest growth in tourism, 32.7, 29.2 and 23.3 percent respectively.^[2] The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.^[3]

On 2019, Indonesia recorded 16.10 million foreign tourist arrivals, seeing a 1.9% per cent increase than that of 2018.^[4] In 2015, 9.73 million international visitors entered Indonesia, staying in hotels for an average of 7.5 nights and spending an average of US$1,142 per person during their visit, or US$152.22 per person per day.^[5] Singapore, Malaysia, China, Australia, and Japan are the top five sources of visitors to Indonesia.

The Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024 ranks Indonesia 22nd out of 119 countries overall with Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index score of 4.46.^[6] This is a significant improvement for Indonesian tourism sector. Previously in 2019 Indonesia ranks 40th out of 140 countries overall with index score of 4.3.^[7][8] It is a two steps improvement from Indonesia's 2017 position of 42nd out of 136 countries overall with index score of 4.2.^[9][10] The 2015 report ranks the price competitiveness of Indonesia's tourism sector the 3rd out of 141 countries. It mentions that Indonesia has quite good travel and tourism policy and enabling conditions (ranked 9th). The country also scores quite good on natural and cultural resources (ranked 17th). However, the country scored rather low in infrastructure sub-index (ranked 75th), as some aspects of tourist service infrastructure are underdeveloped.^[11]

In 2016, the government was reported to be investing more in tourism development by attracting more foreign investors. The government has given priority to 10 destinations as follows: Borobudur, Central Java; Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara; Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara; Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, East Java; Thousand Islands, Jakarta; Lake Toba, North Sumatra; Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi; Tanjung Lesung, Banten; Morotai, North Maluku; and Tanjung Kelayang, Bangka Belitung Islands. As quoted in The Jakarta Post, the government is aiming for 275 million trips by domestic tourists by end of 2019.^[12] The government has also secured commitments from potential investors, totalling US$70 million in the areas of building accommodation, marina and ecotourism facilities in 3 of the 10 areas.^[12] Indonesia is ranked at seventh place in the list of Lonely Planet's top 10 countries to visit in 2019.^[13][14] The country ranks fourth out of the top 25 destinations in the world in 2018 by travel site TripAdvisor.^[15]