Fewer Australian tourists visit Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: The number of Australian holidaymakers that visited the island resort of Bali last year dropped 27 percent compared to that in the previous year, a local tourist official said here on Saturday.

Chief of the provincial tourism office I Gde Pitana said the number of Australian tourists who visited Bali last year dropped to 183,000 from 232,410 in 2002.

He said that, all in all, the total number of foreign tourists who went to Bali also dropped last year compared with that of the previous year. Foreign tourists to Bali in 2003 totaled 984,000 people, compared with 1,210,320 in 2002.

Thus, Pitana said, various attempts and promotions had been aimed to attract foreign tourists, especially those from Australia.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Council of the Australia-Indonesian Institute Philip Flood, who visited Bali recently, said Australia wanted to help revive Bali's tourism industry after it was badly damaged by the Oct. 12, 2002, bombing tragedy that killed more than 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. -- Antara