REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PADANG -- A total of 9.59 million tourists visited various tourist destinations in West Sumatra during 2023, higher than the target set for 8.2 million tourists.

“The figure of 9.59 million tourist visits is only data until November 2023 because data for December is still being collected from districts and cities,” said the head of the Sumbar Tourism Department, Luhur Budianda in Padang on Tuesday. He said that if the December 2023 data calculated the possible number of tourist visits to Sumbar, during 2023 it could reach 10 million people.

He mentioned that the average monthly tourist visit to Sumbar is about 811 thousand people. However, it is likely that in December 2023, the number of visits decreased from the previous month.

This was due to a catastrophic flood and landslide at the end of the year on Jalan Lintas Sumbar-Riau Sumatra, while most tourists to Sumbar came from Riau. Luhur detailed that of the 9.59 million tourists who visited Sumbar, 44,095 were foreign tourists, dominated by tourists from Malaysia, Australia and France.

He mentioned that the number of tourist visits to Sumbar in 2023 is much more than in 2022 thanks to the support of dozens of activities held in 19 districts and cities throughout the year. According to the Sumbar Tourism Office, the number of tourist visits to Sumbar in 2022 amounts to about six million more.

A total of six million people are archipelago tourists and 4,000 foreign tourists. In 2023, Sumbar launched the Visit Beautiful West Sumatra 2023 program to attract tourists with a target of 8.2 million visits.

Through the program, dozens of activities were also prepared that were held alternately throughout the year in 19 districts and cities. Referring to that, the Sumbar Tourism Department again prepared a calendar of tourism activities for 2024 that will be launched on January 20, 2024.

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