01Hotels and tourism
As the capital of Central Sulawesi, Palu has a significant hotel sector. In 2020, there were 116 registered hotels in the city according to Statistics Indonesia. Tourism, however, has been declining; the numbers of foreign and domestic tourists visiting the city decreased from 291,930 domestic visitors and 3,709 foreign visitors in 2017 to 156,733 domestic visitors and 1,110 foreign visitors in 2019. This number further decreased to 70,562 domestic visitors and 194 foreign visitors in 2020. Tourism and the hotel industry in Palu has declined since 2018 due to that year's earthquake and tsunami and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Although there were signs of recovery in 2019 in the aftermath of the earthquake, the pandemic delayed further recovery of hotel industry until late 2021.
The city had 128 registered restaurants in 2021, although the number would be significantly higher if unregistered restaurants are included.