Spending by foreign and domestic tourists during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang reached IDR3.7 trillion, according to a new survey ©Getty Images

Spending by foreign and domestic tourists during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang reached IDR3.7 trillion (£186 million/$244 million/€211 million), according to a new survey.

As reported by Indonesian news agency Antara, the survey was conducted by Indonesia's National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and Economic and Community Study Institute of the University of Indonesia.

Spending on souvenirs accounted for the largest proportion of the overall sum, according to Bappenas head Bambang Brodjonegoro.

Around IDR655.4 billion (£33 million/$43 million/€37 million) of the foreign tourist spending of IDR1.9 trillion (£95 million/$125 million/€109 million) was on souvenirs, while domestic tourists spent approximately IDR913.5 billion (£46 million/$60 million/€52 million) of their total outlay of IDR1.8 trillion (£90 million/$119 million/€103 million).

It is estimated there were 80,000 foreign tourists visiting Indonesia during the Games, which took place from August 18 to September 2.

The length of stay of foreign tourists averaged 13 days, nearly spanning the full duration of the Games.

The domestic tourists, those from outside the Greater Jakarta area, stayed for three days on average.

Chinese were the largest in number among the foreign tourists ©Getty Images
Chinese were the largest in number among the foreign tourists ©Getty Images

Chinese were the largest in number among the foreign tourists with 10,375 travelling, followed by 10,038 Japanese, 7,443 Koreans, 5,244 Malaysians and 5,001 Indians.

Indian tourists stayed the longest, averaging 17 days to the Chinese’s 16 days, Brodjonegoro said.

Although The Netherlands did not take part in the Asian continent’s flagship multi-sport event, there were 2,341 Dutch tourists that visited Indonesia with a length of stay averaging 15 days.

"Perhaps they are Indonesian origins with Dutch nationality," Brodjonegoro was reported as saying by Antara.

A survey published in April estimated that the 2018 Asian Games would be worth IDR45.1 trillion (£2.3 billion/$3.0 billion/€2.6 billion) to the economy in Indonesia.

Bappenas claimed Jakarta Palembang 2018 would have a multi-billion dollar impact on the local economy along with another major event held in the country this year, the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, in Bali last week.  

But it was Asian Games which would have the greatest impact, the study claimed.