We need more Russian guides in Bali

 Bali needs more Russian-speaking tourist guides

Bali needs tourist guides who speak Russian fluently as more and more Russians are visiting Indonesia`s most famous tourist island, an official said.

Out of the 7,039 certified tourist guides available on Bali Island, only 41 speak Russian, Made Sukadana, chairman of the Indonesian Tourist Guide Association (HPI), said here on Monday.

Of the total number of tourist guides, around 2,586 speak English and 2,160 Japanese, he said.

Bali`s tourism office had recorded the arrival of 31,267 Russians visited at the Island in the January-November period in 2007, an increase of 64.5 percent from 19,000 in the same period in 2006.

A total of around 1.5 million foreign tourists visited Bali last year with the number of Japanese topping the list followed by Australians and Taiwanese while the Russians came in 13th place.

Bali was visited by 327,301 Japanese tourists in the January-November period in 2007, an increase of 40 percent from 233,588 in the same period in 2006.

The number of Australian tourists visiting Bali last year was 182,301, up by 54 percent from 117,969 in the previous year.

Bali received 132,165 Taiwanese tourists last year, a slight decrease from 132,171 in 2006.

Last year, Bali saw a total of 1.5 million  foreign tourist arrivals, the highest figure in the past 10 years.