More Americans visit Bali this year

Being separated by more than 20 hours of flight time and approximately US$1,500 in round-trip airfare is not enough stop Americans from going to Bali – an Indonesian province that is widely considered as “second home” for beach lovers and surfers from Indonesia’s closer neighbors like Australia.
This year, Bali has seen a significant increase in American tourists, rising 17 percent compared to same period last year, the Bali Statistics Agency said on Monday.
“Most of the [American] tourists arrived at the Ngurah Rai International Airport on direct flights. Only 131 tourists coming arrived via cruise ships,” Bali Statistics Agency head Gede Suarsa said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Although the number of tourists from the US is growing, it is still some way off compared to Australia – Indonesia’s closest neighbor, whose citizens dominate the demography of foreign tourists in Bali. Despite its robust growth, the US ranks ninth in the list of places of origin for tourists visiting Bali, with Australia, China, Japan Taiwan and Malaysia holding the top-five spots on the list.
According to the agency’s statistics, most foreign tourists visiting Bali are Australians. The statistics office recorded 63,704 Australians as having traveled to Bali in January this year alone. (sat)
List of Bali’s foreign tourists based on their nationalities, January 2012:

1. Australia (63,704 visitors)
2. China (55,099)
3. Japan (12,805)
4. Taiwan (11,671)
5. Malaysia (11,656)
6. Russia (10,907)
7. South Korea (10,567)
8. Singapore (7,566)
9. United States (6,783)
10. England (6,325)