Tourist arrivals rise 16 pct in February

The number of foreign tourists in Indonesia rose nearly 16 percent in February from a year ago, helped by a surge in visitors to the resort island of Bali, government data showed on Tuesday.

The predominantly Hindu island of Bali, which accounted for about 40 percent of total foreign arrivals, has seen tourist numbers rebound after a slow recovery from the impact of suicide bomb attacks by Islamic militants in 2002 and 2005.

The number of foreign tourists in Indonesia was 446,425 in February, up from 385,400 a year ago. Tourist arrivals in Bali rose 29.59 percent to 197,700 in February from a year ago.

Foreign tourist arrivals in Southeast Asia's largest economy climbed to 5.51 million in 2007 from 4.87 million in 2006, but fell short of the government's target of 6 million.