TOURIST ARRIVALS IN JAKARTA UP 22 PCT IN MAY

Jakarta, July 7 (ANTARA) - A total of 124,928 foreign tourists visited Jakarta in May 2009, up 22.32 percent from a month earlier, an official said.

The rise in the number of tourist arrivals was among others the result of intensive tourism campaigns and media reports on the conducive security situation in the capital city, the head of the distribution statistics at the Jakarta office of the Central Statistics Board (BPS), Dody Rudiyanto said here on Tuesday.

"The promotion campaigns and positive information were able to shore up foreign tourists' confidence in visiting Jakarta," he said.

Hopefully, the positive trend of tourist arrivals would continue in the months ahead, he said.

Over the past four years, the capital three times saw a significant increase in the number of tourist arrivals including that in May 2009, he said.

Compared to the same period last year, however, the number of tourist arrivals in May 2009 fell 2.99 percent due to the sluggish global economic growth in the first quarter, he said.

Malaysia topped the list of tourist arrivals in Jakarta in May 2009 with 24,940 tourists, followed by Singapore (10,950), China (10,004), the United States (5,047), and Japan (5,031).

The tourist arrivals from the five countries accounted for 44.80 percent of the total tourist arrivals in May 2009.

"This means that tourist arrivals from the five countries are important for the tourism market in Jakarta," he said.

Overall, 445,394 foreign tourists visited Indonesia in May 2009, a 8.03 percent increase from a month earlier.***2***