The number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia between January and November 2006 dropped by 4.60 percent compared to that in the same period of the previous year, head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Rusman Heriawan said.

Foreign tourists visiting Indonesia through 13 gates between January and November, 2006, numbered 3,59 million or decreased by 4.60 percent compared to 3.76 million in 2005, Rusman said here Tuesday.

The 13 gates were Jakarta, Bali, Medan, North Sulawesi, East Java, West Kalimantan, Semarang (Central Java), West Sumatra, Mataram (West Nusa Tenggara), Makassar (South Sulawesi), Tanjung Priok (Jakarta) and Tanjung Pinang (Riau).

Rusman said the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia in November 2006 actually increased to 365,026 compared to 290.316 in October 2006.

Although the increase before the end of the year (2006) was signifcant, the cumulative number of foreign tourists to Indonesia in 2006 was lower than in 2005, Rusman said.

Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik in his year-end report on the performance of his ministry earlier admitted the drop in the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic tourists increased by 1.5 percent in 2006, he said, adding that the reason of the increase in the number of domestic tourists was because they knew Indonesia better than foreigners.

However, the minister was optimistic that the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia would reach between 5.3 million and 5.5 million people in 2007.

I am optimistic that the number of foreign tourists will increase if the situation in Indonesia remains safe and conducive, he said.

In the meantime, the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia through Ngurah Rai airport in Bali increased before the end of 2006.

Data available at BPS showed the number of foreign tourists to Bali reached 118,778 in October and 119,280 people in December, 2006, or up by 0.42 percent.

Gradually, Bali`s income from tourism is recovering following the bombing incident on October 1, 2005, Rusman said.