Bali Sees A Drop In Tourist Arrivals From Malaysia In January, February

By Ahmad Fuad Yahya JAKARTA, April 10 (Bernama) -- The popular resort island of Bali saw a drop in tourist arrivals from Malaysia in the first two months of the year. There was 1.31 per cent drop to 23,801 Malaysian tourist arrivals as compared to 24,117 people the same period last year. Bali Statistics Centre head I Gede Suarsa said last year, 151,716 Malaysians visited the island, a 11.71 per cent increase from 2010 which saw 135,811 visitors from Malaysia. Malaysia was the fourth biggest market for Bali's tourism industry after Australia, China and Japan out of the 10 countries bringing the most number of visitors to Bali, he said when contacted in Denpasar Bali on Monday. Besides Malaysia, for the same period (January-February) there was also a drop in tourist arrivals to Bali from Japan (18.04 per cent), from 34,968 to 28,659 and France (4.11 per cent), from 11,815 to 11.329 people. However, during the same period, there was an increase in tourist arrivals from Australia (15.14 per cent - from 103,398 to 119,054 visitors); China (84.95 per cent - 44,718/82,705); South Korea (13.28 per cent - 20,221/22,905); Taiwan (1.39 per cent - 19,300/19,569); Russia (0.72 peratus - 19,209/19,347); Britain (23.61 per cent - 13,391/16,552) and Singapore (7.92 per cent - 13,315/16,552). -- BERNAMA