Brunei has seen a drop in the overall tourists to the country by air in the second quarter of 2016, while the number of tourists from China and Japan has increased, according to the latest official statistics.
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism said in a statement late on Tuesday that air arrivals for the second quarter of 2016 had dropped by six percent, reaching 52,292 arrivals compared to 55,647 arrivals in the same period of the previous year.
However, the ministry said the second quarter 2016 has continued to show positive growth from the Far East region. Arrivals through the Brunei International Airport from the Far East rose by 8.9 percent, with most visitors coming from China and Japan.
"The increase can be attributed to the ease of visa requirements for the visitors from China and high Japanese currency rate which has influenced travel demand from Japan for the month of April to June 2016," said the ministry.
The lower number of air arrivals was due to declining trend in travel demand, high competitiveness from other countries within the region and economic slowdown in main source markets like Australia and New Zealand, Europe and ASEAN, according to the statement.
The top four countries for tourist arrivals in the second quarter 2016 were Malaysia due to its easy air accessibility and proximity with 25 percent, followed by China at 18.3 percent, Indonesia at 9.5 percent and the Philippines at 8.7 percent.
More than 40 percent of tourists visited Brunei for leisure and holiday. About 18.4 percent of tourists travelled for business, 11.6 percent visited friends and relatives and 11 percent were in transit. Only 2.6 percent of visitors arrived for government purposes and 0.8 percent went to exhibitions.
China and Malaysia remain the main contributors for the leisure and holiday market at 57.3 percent with each accounting for 39.1 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively.
