Number of Chinese and Australian tourist arrivals increasing: minister

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of Chinese and Australian tourists arriving in Indonesia in the January - October 2007 period increased significantly, according to the Data Center of the Ministry of Culture an Tourism here on Friday.

"Chinese and Australian tourists arriving in Indonesia in the January-October 2007 period increased significantly, by 48.96 percent and 43.26 percent respectively, Head of the Data Center Hari Waluyo said.

Chinese tourist who arrived in Indonesia in that period reached 145,000, an increase by 48.96 percnet compared to the 97,902 in last year`s same period.

"Australian tourists who arrived in Indonesia in the January-October 2007 period totalled 219,310, which is an increase by 43.26 percent compared with the 153.083 in last year`s corresponding period," he said.

He said that the tourists from Bahrain recorded the highest percentage in the number of foreign tourists who arrived in the country, namely increasing by 234.04 percent to 471.

Accoring to Waluyo, the total number of foreign tourists arriving through 15 gates in the country during the period reached 3.71 million, an increase by 14.24 percent compared with the same period last year.