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THE number of tourists staying at star-rated hotels In Bangka Belitung (Babel) Province in June 2020 reached 3,953, a 45.33% rise, from 2,720 in the previous month.
According to Head of the Babel BPS Dwi Retno Wilujeng Wahyu Utami, the province’s Central Statistics Office (BPS) said there was a 100% decline in the number of foreign tourists as compared to the previous month owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Nearly all star-rated hotels witnessed an increase in the number of guests, with the highest figure, reaching 2,768 people, recorded at hotels in Pangkalpinang. Furthermore, the number of guests staying at star-rated hotels on Belitung Island reached 872, while 268 guests in Bangka District, and 45 people in Central Bangka District,” Dwi Retno said.
Dwi Retno remarked that the COVID-19 epidemic has had quite an adverse effect on tourist visits due to the tightening of measures on the means of air, sea, and land transportation to break the chain of the dangerous virus transmission.
Utami noted that the occupancy rates at star-rated hotels in Bangka Belitung reached 20.93 percent in June 2020, up 5.04 percentage points from 15.89% in the previous month.
“The highest ROR (occupancy rates) at star-rated hotels was observed in Pangkalpinang, at 35.53 percent, followed by 10.12 percent in Belitung Island, 5.96 percent in Bangka, and five percent in Central Bangka. Four- and five-star hotels have the highest ROR, at 30.96 percent, one-star hotels at 18.85 percent, two-star hotels at 11.50 percent, and three-star hotels at five percent,” Dwi Retno remarked.
In the meantime, Indonesia recorded 160,280 foreign tourist arrivals in June 2020, plunging 2.06 percent from May 2020, or a decline of 88.82 percent from that recorded during the corresponding period last year, according to the BPS.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the tourism sector. However, following the relaxation of large-scale social distancing (PSBB) measures, tourism has picked up, albeit still far from normal,” Suhariyanto, the BPS chief, remarked during a virtual press conference.
During the January-June 2020 period, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia had reached 3.09 million, dropping 59.96%, from 7.72 million registered during the corresponding period last year. [antaranews/photo special]
