JAKARTA – The recent earthquakes in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, have taken a serious toll on tourism, as arrivals to the island plummeted 69 percent in August, according to data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS). The number of tourists visiting Lombok dropped from 13,980 in July to only 4,306 in August, BPS head Suhariyanto said on Friday. Nationwide, tourism arrivals in August were down 1.93 percent from the previous month. Suhariyanto said tourist arrivals from January to August 2018 had reached 10.58 million, or 12.30 percent higher than in the corresponding period last year. Indonesia targets to welcome 17 million tourists this year and 20 million next year.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 03, 2018 10:19 UTC