Australian Tourists to Bali up 39.05 PCT

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - Australian tourists holidaying to  Bali reached 398,787 in the January-November 2009 period, which was an increase by 39.05 percent compared to the 286,796 in the same period the year before.

"Most of them arrived in Bali by plane at Ngurah Rai airport straight from their country, and only 862 travelled by sea," head of the Bali central bureau of statistics  Ida Komang Wisnu said here Sunday.

He said the number of Australian tourists to Bali is on top of the list of the ten countries whose tourists were also visiting the island resort, and a contribution of 18.44 percent from the total number of foreign tourists to Bali reaching 2.16 million in the 11 months of last year.

The number of foreign tourists increased 13.31 percent compared to the 1.90 million in the same period a year earlier. Ida Komang  Wisnu also said that the Australians and Japanese are always competing against each other to be on top of the list.  "And Australians have even accepted Bali as their "second  home", because almost every year they chose Bali as a safe, convenient and interesting  place to go on holidaying,"  Ida Komang Wisnu said.

She also said that of the ten countries with the biggest contribution of tourists to Bali, six countries had the number of their tourists increased significantly, but four undergone a decline.

The six countries are Australia, China 58.93 percent, Malaysia  55.99 percent, France 47.23 percent, the UK 12.44 percent, Holland  21.34 percent, and other countries 12.89 percent.

The four countries suffering a decline are Japan 4.51 percent, South  Korea  7.31 percent,  Taiwan eith percent, and Germany 4.20 percent, she said. (*)