DENPASAR (Bali) Sept 17 — Australia led the top ten sources of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali in the first seven months of the year, Indonesian news agency ANTARA reported.
A total of 458,109 Australians visited Bali between January and July this year, up 2.76 per cent from 445,784 in the same period last year, said I Gede Suarsa, head of Central Statistics Agency (BPS) office in Bali province yesterday.
Australian tourists made up 25.58 per cent of overall tourist arrivals in Bali, which reached 1.79 million in the year ended July 31, 2013.
Suarsa said most Australians travelled to Bali via direct flights from their country, with 5,880 visiting Bali on cruise ships.
China trailed behind in second place and Japan in third place as Bali’s major source of visitors, contributing 12.65 per cent and 6.35 per cent tourist arrivals respectively in the same period.
Between January and July this year, the number of Japanese tourists rose by 15.86 per cent, Malaysia at 9.97 per cent, South Korea (0.15 per cent), Singapore (13.45 per cent), France (0.91 per cent), and the United States (8.86 per cent).
Tourist arrivals from Britain fell by 2.76 per cent to 63,895 from 65,709 in the same period last year. – Bernama
