REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- Foreign tourist arrivals from Europe in Bali totaled 384,009 in the first five months of the year, or 20.62 percent of the total foreign tourist arrivals of 1.8 million on the country's most important tourist destination.

The number of Europeans visiting Bali has increased from month to month this year despite the global economic crisis that hits the region the hardest.

The number of foreign arrivals from Europe rose from 67,026 in January to 82,054 in May this year, tourism observer Made Sudana said here on Friday.

Australians, however, have always made up the largest number of arrivals of foreign tourists on that island.

Made attributed the increase in the number of tourist arrivals to more aggressive promotions by the government over the past year.

According to official record of the Bali Tourism Service, the number of visitors from Britain holidaying in Bali grew the highest in the first five months of the year.

In the January-May period this year, 80,428 British tourists flew in directly from that country to Bali, up 48.63 percent from 54,112 arrivals in the same period last year.

French visitors also grew sharply by 27.63 percent from only 44,138 arrivals in the first five months of 2015, and Germans rose in number by 39.72 percent to 51,697 arrivals in the first five months of the year, Made said.

Bali contributes more than 30 percent to the total number of foreign tourists visiting the country.

Last year, the country recorded around 10 million foreign tourist arrivals and Bali alone recorded around 3.5 million.

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