Foreign visitors stay long in E Nusa Tenggara

Kupang, E Nusa Tenggara (AntaraNews NTT) - Head of Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) of East Nusa Tenggara, Maritje Pattiwaellapia, said that the foreign visitors` length of stay in this province has risen by an average of 3.03 days in January 2018.

"Usually, the foreign visitors stay for only a day or two, but it has increased by an average of 3.03 days compared to the previous one," she stated here on Thursday.

She noted that the length of stay of foreign visitors was longer than the domestic ones, who only stayed for around 1.78 days.

However, the domestic visitors still dominate, reaching 16,853 people, while the foreign ones only reach 1,009 people.

Maritje remarked that the number of guests and the average length of stay were calculated from the 29 star hotels (one star to five stars) in the province.

According to Pattiwaellapia, the increase in average length of occupancy of foreign guests shows an increase in their willingness to visit Kupang area for holidays.

"It shows the visitors enjoy a longer stay in East Nusa Tenggara. We hope they will visit again on the next occasion, so that the local people could earn more income," she revealed.

However, the average length of stay of visitors in hotels decreased to 18.43 percent in January 2018.

"The data show that the occupancy rate in hotels in East Nusa Tenggara rose up to 57.94 percent, but in January, it was only 39.51 percent," she explained.

The phenomenon of the decline in occupancy in star-rated hotel occurred in certain months, especially at the beginning of the year, due to the lack of activity of government and private agencies.

"Hotel occupancy rate usually increases when there are activities of meeting, including seminars from both the region and the center," she added.

Reported by Aloysius Lewokeda