MALAYSIA has taken over China’s position as largest tourist contributor to Indonesia in April, according to the Jakarta Post.

A total of 215,339 Malaysians visited Indonesia in April, making up 16.56% of the total 1.3 million tourists in the same month, said Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

The number of Malaysian tourists has also grown 25.53% year-on-year, said the agency.

The second-largest contributing country was China, which sent 185,167 tourists, or 14.24%, registering a 10% increase from the same month last year.

The increased arrival of Malaysian tourists to Indonesia was supported by the opening of new flight routes, such as the Miri-Pontianak and Kuching-Pontianak routes, BPS head Suhariyanto told the Jakarta Post.

“The opening of new routes facilitates Malaysian tourists to visit Indonesia. Any opening of direct flights had a significant impact on tourist arrivals,” he added.

The holiday island of Bali recorded the highest increase in visitors in April from the month before, said the report. – June 6, 2018.