Komodo islands and Flores: what the official numbers actually count

Komodo District is larger and more varied than the headline islands alone: official statistics describe it as covering approximately 813.53 square kilometres across Flores Island and other small islands. For visitors comparing island stops with inland Flores, the clearest official baseline is that the district is an administrative area, not a single attraction, and its tourism picture is reported through separate local and provincial statistics.

What area does Komodo District cover?

The district covers approximately 813.53 square kilometres and consists of part of Flores Island together with other small islands, according to BPS Manggarai Barat, 2024. That figure describes the district’s administrative area; it is not a measurement of Komodo National Park alone.

How large is tourism in the wider region?

Manggarai Barat recorded 596,683 tourist visits in the provincial tourism statistics for 2023, according to BPS East Nusa Tenggara, 2024. The publication identifies Manggarai Barat as one of the province’s main tourism destinations and reports growth of 23.87%.

What does Labuan Bajo’s transport data show?

Komodo Airport recorded 426,509 departing passengers and 442,098 arriving passengers in 2023, according to BPS East Nusa Tenggara, 2024. The figures are airport passenger counts, so they should not be treated as the number of visits to Padar, Pink Beach, Kanawa or any other individual spot.

Can reservation data be used as an island visitor total?

No. An official Labuan Bajo tourism authority update reported 4,189 SiOra reservations as of 10 February 2025, comprising 741 domestic and 3,448 foreign visitors, while only 465 transactions had succeeded. The figures therefore describe that application’s reservation records, not total visitation across the district or national park.

Why does the distinction matter?

Island-by-island questions require island-specific records, while district, airport and reservation statistics measure different things. Reading them separately avoids presenting an administrative area, airport movement or reservation count as a direct count for a particular beach, viewpoint or village.

Sources

• BPS Manggarai Barat
• Badan Pelaksana Otorita Labuan Bajo Flores