New visa hurts RI's tourism<\/p>\n
Maybe we should thank Julia Sitorus for contributing her
\narguments in favor of stricter visa policies (The Jakarta Post,
\nMay 19). Her arguments contain so many errors and factual
\nfallacies that I wonder if the piece was not intended to be
\nsatire?<\/p>\n
Specifically, her claim that \"Data compiled by immigration
\nreveals that most visa-free entries were abused by foreigners\",
\nmeans that more than half of Indonesia's five million tourists
\nare not visiting as tourists but for work or business? I submit
\nthat Indonesia's immigration office possesses no such data at
\nall. It is more likely that 99 percent of all tourist arrivals in
\nIndonesia are fully bona fide.<\/p>\n
Sitorus then goes on to contend that most tourists from China
\n\"turned out to be smugglers of merchandise from the Chinese
\nmainland\". From my own observations of those polite and well
\nbehaved Chinese tour groups waiting patiently in Indonesian
\nimmigration queues, I suggest that this contention is quite
\nabsurd.<\/p>\n
The visa debate also treats the long staying tourist badly.
\nShe says that: because most tourists stay an average of only 14
\ndays \"there is potential for abusing the visa among those who
\nstay for the remaining 46 days\". This contention ignores the
\nmajor contribution made to Indonesia by the humble backpacker.<\/p>\n
On the contrary, the great beach resorts of Southeast Asia
\nwere built on the backpacker's patronage. Specifically, Kuta
\nBeach, Koh Samui and Goa all started back in the 1960s and 1970s
\nas places with simple beach huts and palm thatched shacks where
\nlocal families served young Westerners tasty food and simple
\naccommodation for budget prices.<\/p>\n
Ironically, some 20 years ago, Australia made a study of
\nIndonesia's vibrant backpacker market and built a whole industry
\non it.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's best tourism customer is now Indonesia's strongest
\ntourism competitor, as Australia now earns more tourist dollars
\nfrom the budget backpacker than Indonesia does itself.<\/p>\n
Sitorus wrongly states that the free-visa policy has been in
\neffect for 10 years. It has, in fact, been in effect for more
\nlike 20 years. The free-visa policy was a landmark for Indonesian
\ntourism, making this great archipelago accessible to a new kind
\nof less adventurous tourist, which helped turn those crude
\nthatched beach huts into grand resorts.<\/p>\n
See now a generation on: those local Kuta families now own
\nfive-star hotels and restaurants. And those same US$1\/day
\nbackpackers are back with wives, children and grandchildren in
\ntow, with a family budget more like $500\/day.<\/p>\n
EVAN WILLIS, Sydney, Australia<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-visa-hurts-ris-tourism-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }