TOURIST ARRIVALS IN BALI UP 14 PCT

Jakarta Forum - Denpasar, More than 2.38 million foreign tourists visited Bali last year, up 14.48 percent from a year earlier, the local statistics office said.

"In December 2009 alone, the number of foreign tourists visiting the resort island was 222,546, a 26.47 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier or a 20.42 percent increase compared to November 2009," head of the Bali statistics office Ida Komang Wisnu said on Wednesday.

He said Australia was Bali`s biggest source of foreign tourists, contributing 446,570, an increase of 42.62 percent from the year before.

China came in second place with 205,151 tourists, up 56.98 percent compared to 2008, he said.

Meanwhile, the number of Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese tourists visiting Bali last year fell 7.20 percent, 7.43 percent and 7.67 percent respectively from 2008.

Source: Antara News