Statistics Indonesia announced on Friday morning (02/01) that a total of 764,461 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in November 2014, down 5.32 percent from foreign visitor arrivals in the same month last year. Cumulatively, a total of 8.52 million tourists have visited Indonesia in the January-November 2014 period, up 7.29 percent from the same period in 2013. Arief Yahya, Indonesia’s Tourism Minister, is optimistic that this year’s target of welcoming 9.3 million foreign visitors - spending a total of USD $10.69 billion - will be achieved.

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The Lion Group, parent to Indonesia’s largest privately held airline Lion Mentari Airlines (Lion Air), targets to raise IDR 10 trillion (USD $820 million) by selling a 30 percent stake through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2016. If realized, this would be one of the largest IPOs on the IDX in recent years. Lion Group CEO Rusdi Kirana confirmed the company’s IPO plans earlier this week. Part of the proceeds will be used to develop a new airport in Lebak (Banten, West Java).

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After seeing foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia reach 752,363 in May 2014, Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu stated that it is highly likely for Indonesia to achieve its target of 9.5 million foreign tourist arrivals this year. In the first five months of 2014, 3.70 million foreign tourists visited the world’s largest archipelago, a 9.96 percentage point growth compared to the same period in 2013 (which was 3.36 million). As usual, most foreign visitors entered Indonesia in Bali.

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During the first three months of 2014, the total number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia reached 2.22 million, a 10.07 percent increase from the first quarter in 2013 (2.02 million visitors). Suryamin, Head of Statistics Indonesia, said on Friday (02/05) that - as usual - most foreign tourists (816,470) entered Indonesia through Ngurah Rai International Airport on Bali, Indonesia's most popular island in terms of tourism. Other popular points of entry in Q1-2014 were Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (located just outside Jakarta) and Batam.

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The number of foreign tourists that visited Indonesia in January 2014 surged 22.6 percent to 753,079 from the same month last year. As usual, most tourists entered Indonesia through the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, the most popular tourist destination of foreigners, followed by Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Batam. A remarkable growth was detected in foreign visitor arrivals in Lombok, growing by 374 percent (yoy). However, this development was not explained by Statistics Indonesia in its press conference.

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On Monday (03/02), Statistics Indonesia released various data regarding Indonesia's tourism sector. According to the institution, the number of foreign tourist in Indonesia increased 9.42 percent to 8.80 million people in the full year of 2013. Foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector grew 11.0 percent to USD $10.1 billion from USD $9.1 billion in 2012. This means that - on average - each foreign tourist spent USD $1,142 per visit in 2013 despite the average length of stay slightly declining from 7.7 days to 7.5 days.

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Indonesia's Ministry of Transportation expects the number of air passengers in Indonesia to exceed 100 million in 2014, a 15 percent growth from this year's estimated 90 million air passengers. Air traffic in Southeast Asia's largest economy is growing rapidly. From 2012 to 2013, passenger numbers grew at least 19 percent (from 60 to 90 million), while the total number of flights increased from 566,000 in 2011 to 684,000 in 2012. This robust growth necessitates investments to safeguard comfort and safety in Indonesia's aviation sector.

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The number of foreign tourists that visited Indonesia in the first ten months of 2013 (January to October) reached 7.13 million people, a 8.36 percent increase from the same period last year (6.58 million tourists). Traditionally, most foreign visitor arrivals (2.65 million) entered Indonesia through the newly renovated Ngurah Rai International Airport on Bali, Indonesia's most popular tourist destination. Second is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located close to Jakarta, which welcomed 1.85 million foreign arrivals in the January-October 2013 period.

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Indonesia's Ngurah Rai Airport on the idyllic island of Bali is now the country's largest airport in terms of passenger capacity. Being newly renovated, it can handle 25 million passengers per year. As such, it has surpassed Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located just outside Jakarta (Java), and the new Kuala Namu airport in Medan (Sumatra), which have passenger capacities of 22 million and 8.1 million respectively. However, after renovation of terminal three at Soekarno-Hatta will be finished, Ngurah Rai is to lose its top spot again.

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Garuda Indonesia is the most renowned airline of Indonesia. The company, which received four stars from Skytrax, provides both domestic and international flights (passengers and cargo). In recent years, Garuda has experienced a remarkable transition from being banned to fly to the Eurozone towards becoming a world-class airline that is acknowledged by international critical acclaim. Although Garuda is Indonesia's top class airline, it taps the low-cost aviation sector through its subsidiary Citilink Indonesia.

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In his quest to improve infrastructure in Indonesia, President Joko Widodo inaugurated the railway service that links the capital city of Jakarta to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia's busiest airport, on Tuesday (02/01). With the new train, called Railink, people can reach the airport - located about 30 kilometers to the northwest of Jakarta - in about one hour.

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The Indonesian government changed the funding scheme for the construction of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Railway project (which will connect Soekarno Hatta International Airport, located nearby Jakarta, and Halim Airport in Jakarta). Previously, it was planned that this project, valued at IDR 26 trillion (USD $2.1 billion), would be offered through a public-private partnership (PPP) construction in which the Indonesian government would finance 55 percent of the costs. Now, however, the project is offered fully to the private sector.

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The prequalification tender for the construction of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport Railway project has been postponed until late October 2014 (from August) as agreements with several stakeholders still need to be finalized. For example, the government is yet to underwrite part of the required investment. Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation proposes to underwrite IDR 13.5 trillion (USD $2.3 billion) - approximately 49 percent of total required investment for this railway project.

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The Indonesian Transportation Ministry will tender the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport train project in August 2014. The project, which will connect one of the world’s busiest airports to the capital city of Jakarta, is offered in the shape of a public-private partnership (PPP) with the Indonesian government. The total of investment required to develop the railway, which will be built partly underground, is estimated at IDR 26 trillion (USD $2.2 billion). The project aims to improve connectivity to the airport.

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Airport Council International (ACI), the only global trade representative of the world's airports, stated that Indonesia’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, located just outside the capital city of Jakarta, has climbed one spot and is now ranked the world’s 8th busiest airport in terms of passenger numbers (over the year 2013) and was the 4th busiest airport in the Asia Pacific after Beijing Capital International Airport, Haneda International Airport (Tokyo), and Dubai International Airport.

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On Friday 10 January 2014, the government of Indonesia opened Halim Airport for scheduled commercial flights. Previously, the only airport that served these types of flights around Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta and surrounding towns was the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Soetta), located in Cengkareng (Banten). However, the amount of daily passengers at Soetta has exceeded its capacity. Based on data from Airports Council International, released in 2013, Soetta is the world's tenth busiest airport.

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Although initially expected to start in 2015, the government announced that construction of the new Karawang airport (in West Java) may commence in 2014. The administrative process (including a spatial plan review) is near completion, thus clearing the way for the airport's groundbreaking. The Karawang International Airport, which is designed to have a passenger handling capacity of 70 million people per year, will be built on a 900 ha piece of land and is envisaged to relieve passenger and flight congestion at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

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The public and private sector in Indonesia is well aware that the lack of quality and quantity of Indonesia's infrastructure is one of the matters that hamper the economic development of the country. For that reason, the central government implemented the Masterplan to Accelerate and Expand Economic Development (MP3EI) in Indonesia, which foresees large investments in the country's infrastructure. Although results are not satisfying yet, the government is proud to have opened a new airport in North Sumatra.

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