FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS IN BALI UP 29.94 PERCENT

Denpasar, Bali Province, April 1 (ANTARA) - The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali Island, during February 2010, reached 191,926, up 29.94 percent from that in the same period last year.

Compared to 179,273 foreign tourists visiting Bali in January 2010, the February 2010 figure was an increase of 7.06 percent, Ida Komang Wisnu, head of the Bali chapter of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said here on Thursday.

Bali received a total of 371,199 foreign tourists during January-February 2010, he said.

The tourist resort island was visited by a total of 2.38 million foreigners in 2009, up 14.48 percent from 2.08 million in 2008, he said.

Most of the tourists entered the island by airplanes, and only 633 of them arrived by cruise ships.

The number of Japanese tourists went down 19.80 percent from 29,538 people in February 2009 to 23,689 in February 2010; South Korean tourists down 26.31 percent from 11,034 people to 8,131, and Malaysia down 13.99 percent from 9,385 to 8,072.

The number of tourist arrivals from seven countries showed significant increase in February 2010, covering Australia up 63.78 percent, China 175.27 percent, Taiwan 92.88 percent, France 15.68 percent, Russia 28.25 percent, the Netherlands 61.06 percent and the United States 24.93 percent, according to Ida Komang Wisnu.