In 2019, the rovince welcomed over 2.5 million international visitors, having surpassed the target of 2.3 million set in the region’s medium-term development plan. It is expected that in near future tourism will become one of the main sources of income for Riau Islands.
The majority of the foreign tourists who visited the Islands in 2019, came from Singapore and Malaysia what shows that the government's efforts to bolster tourism in cross-border regions start yielding results.
Riau Islands acting governor expressed his enthusiasm about the Islands' performance in the next years expecting the number of foreign tourists visiting Riau Islands in 2021 to surpass that in Bali.
According to the data from the ministry show that Bali, in 2019, three regions that made the biggest contribution in Indonesia's tourism industry in terms of foreign tourist numbers were Bali, Riau Islands and Jakarta. Bali ranked first with the most international visitors (38.47 percent), followed by Riau Islands (17.37 percent) and Jakarta (15.21 percent) in second and third places, respectively.
Riau Islands Bali's Close Runner-Up in Intenational Visitors Arrivals
News in AsiaIndonesia's Riau Islands province ranks second after Bali as the country's most-visited destination for foreign tourists. Have you been there yet?