International arrivals to Indonesia rose in May 2026, driven by visits from APAC countries

Malaysia remained Indonesia’s largest source of international visitors with 298,210 arrivals, followed by visitors holding Australia passports at 155,030 arrivals and Singapore passports at 136,740.

Indonesia’s international tourism momentum picked up in May 2026, with visitor arrivals reaching 1.38mn as travel rebounded after declines earlier in the year. The May figure was up 10.69% from April and 5.83% compared with May 2025, signalling renewed strength as the country moved into the mid-year travel period.

According to BPS-Statistics Indonesia, the recovery followed a fluctuating start to 2026. International arrivals stood at 1.19mn in January, slipped to 1.16mn in February and fell further to 1.09mn in March, before rising again to 1.25mn in April and 1.38mn in May. Over the first five months of the year, Indonesia welcomed 6.07mn international visitors, an increase of 7.68% compared with the same period in 2025.

Most visitors continued to enter Indonesia through the country’s main gateways. In May, 1.19mn arrivals came through main entry points, while 188,540 entered through border gates. Air travel remained the dominant route, accounting for 78.16% of international arrivals through the main gates, followed by sea transport at 18.06% and land transport at 3.78%.

Arrivals by air reached 932,850 in May. Although this was slightly lower than May 2025, down 0.88%, it marked a 4.88% increase from April 2026. Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport and Banten’s Soekarno-Hatta Airport remained the key air gateways, handling 813,410 international arrivals, or 87.20% of all visitors entering by air.

Sea arrivals showed stronger growth. International visitors entering through the main sea gateways reached 215,610, up 17.43% year on year and 40.33% from the previous month. The ports of Batam and Tanjung Uban in Kepulauan Riau continued to dominate sea arrivals, accounting for 190,530 visitors, or 88.37% of the total.

Land crossings also recorded growth, with 45,090 international arrivals in May. This represented an increase of 26.96% compared with May 2025 and 21.96% compared with April 2026. The main land entry points were Atambua in Nusa Tenggara Timur and Jayapura in Papua, which together accounted for 32,190 arrivals, or 71.39% of land-based entries.

The year-on-year increase in May was broad-based across most passport-holder groups. Visitors from ASEAN countries recorded the strongest growth, rising 11.06%, followed by the Middle East at 5.67% and Asia excluding ASEAN at 5.37%. European passport holders, however, declined by 5.91%.

Compared with April, the sharpest monthly increase came from visitors holding Middle Eastern passports, whose arrivals rose 74.57%. ASEAN passport holders also increased by 23.24%, while visitors from Asia excluding ASEAN rose 4.41%. By contrast, the American passport-holder group recorded the steepest monthly decline, down 4.65%.

Malaysia remained Indonesia’s largest source of international visitors in May, with 298,210 arrivals, representing 21.58% of the total. This was followed by visitors holding Australian passports at 155,030 arrivals, Singaporean passports at 136,740, and Chinese passports at 125,460.

International visitors departing Indonesia in May stayed for an average of 10.14 nights. ASEAN passport holders recorded the shortest average stay at 4.15 nights, while European passport holders stayed the longest, averaging 18.01 nights. By nationality, Russian passport holders recorded the longest average stay at 26.80 nights, while Timorese passport holders had the shortest, at 2.00 nights.

The report also revealed other highlights, such as: 

• The number of domestic tourism trips in May 2026 reached 106.16mn, increasing by 8.83% compared to April 2026 (m-to-m) and 8.69% compared to the same month in the previous year (y-on-y). Cumulatively, from January to May 2026, domestic tourism trips totalled 523.22mn, representing an increase of 2.86% compared to the same period in 2025 (cumulative-to-cumulative (c-to-c)).
• In May 2026, the number of outbound trips reached 550,380, reflecting a decrease of 14.49% compared to April 2026 (m-to-m) and 6.05% compared to the same month in the previous year (y-on-y). Malaysia was the top destination for outbound trips in May 2026 (31.81%), followed by Singapore (14.70%), China (9.97%), and Saudi Arabia (6.47%).
• The room occupancy rate (ROR) of star hotels in May 2026 was 50.67%, an increase of 2.48 percentage points (y-on-y) and 1.93 percentage points (m-to-m). Meanwhile, the ROR of nonstar hotels and other accommodations was 26.24%, an increase of 1.13 percentage points compared to May 2025 (y-on-y) and 1.28 percentage points compared to the previous month. The average length of stay at star hotels in May 2026 was 1.64 nights, an increase of 0.06 points compared to May 2025.

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Lead image and infographics / BPS-STATISTICS Indonesia