Indonesia is exploring the potential of providing visa-free entry to residents of 20 countries, including: United States, China, Australia, India, South Korea, Germany, Great Britain and France. These countries are the predominant source of tourists to Indonesia.
The move is geared toward revitalizing the tourism and economic sectors within the country. We hope that by ensuring visa-free travel, tourists from these 20 countries will extend their stay in Indonesia and spend extra money.
Within the following month, the federal government plans to organize an official list of nations that shall be included on this visa-free policy.
Sandiaga Uno, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, said on Thursday (December 7) that the president has instructed the federal government to contemplate visa-free travel as a technique to spice up economic growth, increase tourist arrivals and encourage investment.
Sandiaga Uno also stressed that the visa-free policy shall be considered considering various points, including economic impact, reciprocity and security considerations.
According to official data, greater than 16 million foreigners visited Indonesia before the outbreak of the pandemic. From January to October this yr, Indonesia recorded over 9.49 million foreign tourist arrivals, a rise of 124.3%. in comparison with the identical period in 2022
Apart from this proposal, the Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) has also proposed 13 airports as top priorities to handle foreign tourist arrivals. The airports are positioned in five top priority tourist locations, namely Kualanamu, Yogyakarta International Airport, Lombok, Komodo and Sam Ratulangi.
Meanwhile, the proposal also covers eight other airports akin to Batam, Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, Banda Aceh, Jayapura and Kertajati. The development of those airports shall be given priority outside the Umrah and Hajj seasons.
Indonesia is considered one of the most recent countries within the Southeast Asian region to explore visa waivers for Chinese travelers, a key marketplace for the tourism industry. The move is according to Singapore’s decision, which on Thursday announced plans to introduce a 30-day visa waiver with China early next yr.
Additionally, Thailand and Malaysia have also recently introduced visa waiver policies for visitors from China and India.
