The number of foreign tourist arrival in Indonesia in 2006 reached 4.87 millions people or down by 2.61 percent compared to the previous year, the Statistic Bureau announced in Jakarta on Thursday.

 

The head of the bureau Herman Heriawan told a press conference that the tourists contributed revenue of US$4.4 billions or down by 2.22 percent compared to the figure last year.

 

He said that the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia' s beautiful resort of Bali in December last year was 119,300 people or increase by 7.86 percent compared to the figure in November.

 

Indonesia's tourism industry was first hit by the Asian financial crisis in 1997. Then, the terrorism and Severe Acute Respiratory problem (SARS) and bird flu.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2007)