... "China that was ranked third before is now in the second place relegating Japan to the third position... "Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - China has taken over Japan as Bali's second biggest tourist supplier and strengthened its position as one of the ten biggest countries sending tourists to the island.
"China that was ranked third before is now in the second place relegating Japan to the third position," head of the province's office of the Central Bureau of Statistics, Gede Suarsa, said here on Saturday.
He said more and more people from China came to Bali to enjoy its unique arts and culture and natural panorama.
A a total of 187,633 people from China came to Bali in the first semester this year rising 15.09 percent from 163,030 in the same period last year.
He said China contributed 12.57 percent of total foreign tourists to Bali reaching 1.49 million in the first six months of this year.
The Bali provincial administration expects the number of tourists from China would increase to 400,000 this year or by 10 percent from 300,000 last year.
The target is set based on the estimate from the Chinese Consulate General in Surabaya, East Java, that one million Chinese tourists would come to Bali this year.
The number is actually very small compared to the total number of Chinese conducting overseas trips every year that reaches 75 million.
Bali meanwhile has set a target of receiving up to 2.28 million tourists this year, which is lower than last year's realization of only 2.94 million.
It is optimistic though that it would be achieved because the realization until the end of the first semester has reached 1.49 million.
Bali has increased promotion efforts to potential sources of foreign tourists such as China, Suarsa said.
Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
