REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali rose 14.87 percent to 835,099 in the first quarter of this year from 727,013 in the same period last year.

"The fairly significant growth was attributable to success in a number of international conferences in Bali in 2013," tourism observer Dewa Nyoman Putra said here on Wednesday.

Dewa Nyoman said 95 percent of people spending holidays in Bali repeated visits to the country's main tourist destination.

He said despite the global crisis, the number of visitors to Bali from Europe and the United States, which are the worst hit by the crisis, rose in the first quarter of this year.

An increase was also recorded in the number of visitors from other ASEAN countries, he said.

Based on the official record of the Bali tourism office, the number of visitors from other ASEAN countries rose from 32,521 in January, to 34,840 in February and to 36,417 in March, 2014.

The number of Europeans visiting Bali reached 155,674 in the January-March period of 2014 or 18.64 percent of the total number of visitors to the island and those form the United States totaled 41.690 visitors.

Bali is still one of the favorite destinations for international holiday makers, Dewa Nyoman Putra said.

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