Indonesia’s tourism sector showed positive growth through July 2026, reflected in increases in international tourist visits, domestic tourist trips, and hotel occupancy rates. This performance also strengthened tourism’s contribution to the national and regional economies.

Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, while delivering the Monthly Performance Report of the Ministry of Tourism in Jakarta on Wednesday (9/9/2026), said the achievement was reason to remain optimistic amid global uncertainty.

“This achievement is certainly something we should be grateful for. At the same time, however, the global situation remains highly dynamic. Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism continues to carry out mitigation measures, strengthen market strategies, and ensure that this growth momentum can be maintained through the end of the year,” said Widiyanti.

Photo: Kemenpar

Based on data from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS), international tourist visits from January–July 2026 reached 8.98 million visits, growing 5.23 percent compared with the same period the previous year. Growth mainly came from other parts of Asia at 8.69 percent, Southeast Asia at 7.32 percent, and Oceania at 7.26 percent.

In terms of revenue, tourism foreign exchange earnings in the first half of 2026 reached US$8.43 billion, or approximately Rp145.13 trillion, an increase of 2.88 percent compared with US$8.20 billion in the same period in 2025.

According to Widiyanti, the achievement shows that tourism continues to demonstrate resilience amid geopolitical dynamics and the global economic slowdown.

Photo: Kemenpar

“Tourism is not only about how many tourists arrive, but also how much economic value they leave in Indonesia and how broadly the benefits are felt by the community,” she said.

This contribution is also reflected in the Tourism Satellite Account of BPS. In 2025, tourism’s direct contribution to GDP reached 4.78 percent, or approximately Rp1,139 trillion, increasing from approximately Rp1,057 trillion in 2024.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Puspa said domestic tourist trips were one of the main pillars supporting growth. From January–July 2026, 737.85 million domestic tourist trips were recorded, growing 3.34 percent year on year.

During the same period, trips by Indonesians abroad reached 5.26 million, or a decline of 3.25 percent. As a result, Indonesia recorded a tourism travel surplus of 3.71 million trips.

Photo: Kemenpar

Accommodation industry performance also improved. Hotel occupancy from January–July 2026 reached 49.13 percent, up 2.36 percent compared with the same period last year.

“Tourism growth is not sufficiently measured only by the number of people who travel. What we want to encourage is for these trips to generate length of stay, tourist spending, business activity, and economic benefits in destinations,” said Ni Luh.

In addition to encouraging tourist growth, Kemenpar is implementing a number of ecosystem-strengthening programs, including the activation of “Merdeka Berwisata #DiIndonesiaAja,” support for Pesta Rakyat and Karnaval Kemerdekaan, as well as the S’RASA (Rasa Rempah Indonesia) program to strengthen Indonesia’s spice exports and gastrodiplomacy.

Through the Trade Expo Indonesia business matching program, S’RASA has also encouraged agreements to open Indonesian restaurants in Australia, the Netherlands, Italy, and Malaysia.

Kemenpar emphasized that this growth needs to be maintained through collaboration, increased destination competitiveness, tourist safety, and a more equitable distribution of economic benefits so that tourism becomes increasingly high-quality and sustainable. (Henry)