Beautiful Nature Not Enough? Why Bantul's Tourist Visits Declined in 2025

The southern coastal landscapes, rural rice fields, and hilly areas are the main Tourism magnets in Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY). Throughout 2025, nature-based destinations remain the favorite choice for Domestic Tourists, despite this sector facing direct climate challenges.

The Bantul Regency Tourism Office (Dispar) recorded 1,848,776 tourists visiting various Tourist Destinations in the region throughout last year. Revenue from these visits reached Rp26.7 billion.  

This figure was compiled from all Tourism Levy Collection Points (TPR), both in southern coastal areas and other natural attractions implementing entrance tickets.

However, in terms of revenue, the tourism sector failed to meet the regional government's target.

"Tourism revenue in 2025 only reached 54.6 percent of the Rp49 billion target," said Head of Tourism and Creative Economy at Bantul Dispar, Markus Purnomo Adi, in Bantul on Saturday, December 3, 2026.

Seasonally, Tourist Visits showed fluctuating patterns. Months coinciding with Holiday periods remained the busiest.

For example, December saw 183,788 visitors generating Rp2.6 billion in revenue. During the holiday period from December 20-31 alone, visits reached 116,361 people with Rp1.6 billion revenue.

Nevertheless, compared to the previous year, Bantul's Tourism Trends showed a significant decline.

For comparison, January-December 2024 recorded 2.3 million visits with Rp30.6 billion revenue. Thus, 2025 saw approximately 28 percent decrease from 2024.

Bantul Dispar Head Saryadi explained weather factors were the primary driver of this dynamic. Most attractions in Bantul are open-air nature sites, making them highly climate-dependent.

"This year (2025) cumulatively shows declining Tourist Visit trends to Bantul compared to last year, since our tourism here is predominantly nature-based and thus highly weather-sensitive," he stated.

The peak Rainy Season coinciding with year-end holidays was one factor restraining visit growth. (ANTARA)