Tourist Arrivals in Riau Up in December

Tanjungpinang, Riau (Antara Bali) - A total of 190,269 foreign tourists visited Riau Islands Province in December 2012, up 32.26 percent from a month earlier, according to the Riau Islands provincial statistics office.

The figure represented 24.81 percent of the overall tourist arrivals in Indonesia in December 2012 which reached 766,966, head of the provincial statistics office Badar said here on Wednesday.

All entry points in the province recorded an increase in the number of tourist arrivals in December 2012, he noted.

The number of tourists visiting the province via Tanjungpinang city rose 34.90 percent, Batam city 34.83 percent, Bintan district 24.08 percent and Karimun 23.54 percent compared to a month earlier, he said.

Compared to the same month the year before, the number of tourist arrivals in December 2012 increased slightly by 1.71 percent, he said.

"Overall, the number of tourist arrivals in Riau Islands last year reached 1,767,439, a 3.39 percent increase compared with 2011 when the figure was 1,709,511," he said. (*/DWA)