DENPASAR (indo.com): Bali tourism is predicted to recover with the arrival of tourists from China in January - February, 2002 and the Japan Airlines' planned direct flight frequency increase, Bali's Tourism Office I Gede Pitana has said.

Pitana expressed his optimism that Bali's tourism industry, affected by the decreasing number of tourist arrivals from the U.S. and Europe, will gradually recover. Quoting sources from a number of tourist agents in Germany and U.S., he said that a lot of tourists from those countries were ready to visit Bali.

Official sources from China said that Chinese tourists have come to Indonesia on an individual basis, although larger-scale Chinese arrivals would not begin until March 2002.

"Moreover, starting April 2002, Japan Airlines will increase its Tokyo - Denpasar direct flight frequency from the previous three times a week to six times a week," he noted.

Pitana said that problems besetting the Bali tourism industry included salaries, hikes in electricity rates, fuel price hikes, the hike in tax levels and fierce competition within the industry.

According to Pitana, data has shown that the number of tourist arrivals in Bali dropped to 84,668 per month in the fourth quarter of 2001 from the previous 139,036 per month. The significant drop in the number of tourist arrivals was exacerbated by seasonal factors and the growing fear on the part of potential plane passengers to fly in the wake of the WTC tragedy.