PORTALJABAR, BANDUNG CITY - Bandung Mayor Muhammad Farhan revealed that Bandung City's economic activity has experienced a significant increase since July 2025. This is especially true in the tourism and hospitality sectors, which are driven by various events held in Bandung City.

"From July until now, hotel occupancy rates in Bandung have been extraordinarily high. During major events like the Asia Africa Festival, the ITB Art Market, and other events, star-rated hotels can reach 90% occupancy," he said at Bandung City Hall on Wednesday (October 22, 2025).

Meanwhile, budget hotels, Farhan continued, recorded occupancy rates of around 40%. Over the past three weeks, revenue turnover in this sector is estimated to have reached tens of billions of rupiah.

He stated that the Bandung City Government (Pemkot) will continue to encourage the implementation of various activities to keep the wheels of the economy turning.

"We continue to boost event hosting because Bandung is a retail economy city. According to the Statistics Indonesia (BPS), events are key," he said.

However, Farhan acknowledged that there are challenges to be faced towards the end of the year, especially after the Christmas and New Year (Nataru) holidays.

"After the Christmas and New Year holiday season is over, the economy typically slows down. People start to hold back on spending in preparation for Eid al-Fitr, which is expected to fall in February or March," he said.

He also highlighted an interesting finding from current economic movements. Despite high tourist arrivals, the transaction value per person is actually declining.

"Many people came, but their spending wasn't as much as we'd hoped. Most of the spending was in the informal sector," he said.

Based on previous years' experience, Farhan assessed that the fasting month and Eid al-Fitr may not necessarily be a time for increased consumption as expected.

"Last year, during Ramadan and Eid, consumption didn't actually increase much," he said.

After Eid, economic challenges continue with the arrival of the new student admissions period, which makes many families focus on education expenses.

To maintain stable economic activity, the Bandung City Government will continue to promote events while improving infrastructure, including traffic congestion.

"We are seriously addressing the traffic congestion problem. One step is collaborating with the West Java Transportation Agency to introduce feeder public transportation. This is part of our efforts to improve the city's transportation system to make it more comfortable for residents and tourists," he said.

Previously, the Head of the Bandung City Culture and Tourism Office (Disbudpar), Adi Junjunan Mustafa, revealed that by the third quarter of 2025, the number of tourist visits to Bandung City had reached 6.5 million people, a significant increase from the first semester's achievement of 3.53 million visits.

This trend is a positive signal for achieving the annual target of 8.7 million tourist visits by 2025.

Adi revealed that the growth in tourist visits to Bandung is quite encouraging. As of the second quarter, there were over 3.5 million, and the latest report for the third quarter shows that the number has reached between 6.3 and 6.5 million. (Bandung City Communications and Information Office/UPI)