Tourists undeterred by visa-on-arrival -- for now<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana and I Wayan Juniartha,
\nThe Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Bali in February booked
\na decent 26.4 percent increase compared to the same month in
\n2003, despite the implementation of the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA)
\npolicy, which many pundits had predicted would seriously hamper
\ntourism development in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Data from the immigration office at the Ngurah Rai
\nInternational Airport showed that a total of 85,284 foreign
\ntourists entered the island in February. Last February, the
\nnumber was 67,469.<\/p>\n
Out of that figure, 68,173 visitors entered the island through
\nthe immigration office's VoA desks, thus generating a total of
\nUS$1,651,720 in visa fees for the government of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Needless to say, this is a relief. Now, we can safely say
\nthat the implementation of the policy has not adversely affected
\nthe number of visitor arrivals,\" said IGM Dhordy, the head of the
\nairport authority.<\/p>\n
Similar statements have also been made by various government
\nofficials, particularly from the tourism and immigration offices,
\nwhich in the previous months had been the subject of criticism by
\nthe tourism industry due to the implementation of the VoA policy.<\/p>\n
\"Yes, we do have the general impression that the policy has
\nnot resulted in, say, a decrease in arrivals. But, let's just
\nwait for the availability of more robust and comprehensive data
\nbefore jumping to any conclusions,\" said Agung Prana, the
\nchairman of the Bali branch of the Association of Indonesian
\nTravel Agents (ASITA).<\/p>\n
\"In the absence of solid data, we could also assume that the
\nnumber of arrivals in February would have been much bigger if the
\nVoA policy had not been implemented, couldn't we?\" he added.<\/p>\n
Prana disclosed that members of his association were still in
\nthe final stages of gathering data and statistics on the impact
\nof the new policy.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he also pointed out that the government data did
\nreveal many disturbing aspects. For instance, it showed that in
\nFebruary at least 78 visitors had been denied entry to the island
\nfor VoA-related reasons.<\/p>\n
These unfortunate visitors were citizens of those countries,
\nthat had not been listed as the recipients of either free visas
\nfor short-term visits (BVKS) or visas-on-arrival.<\/p>\n
Therefore, they are obliged to apply for visas at the
\nIndonesian embassies in their respective countries prior to their
\ndepartures to the island.<\/p>\n
\"Apparently they failed to do so and we had to send them back
\non the next available flights to their respective ports of
\norigin,\" Bali immigration chief I Gde Widiartha said.<\/p>\n
The eleven countries that receive the BVKS privilege are
\nSingapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Hongkong
\nSAR, Macau SAR, Chile, Morocco, Peru and Vietnam, while the 21
\ncountries that are entitled to the VOA facility are the USA,
\nAustralia, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, UAE,
\nFinland, Hungary, UK, Italy, Japan, Germany, Canada, South Korea,
\nNorway, France, Poland, Switzerland, New Zealand and Taiwan.<\/p>\n
\"Instead of immediately implementing the policy to its
\nfullest, I still believe that we should provide a period of
\ntransition, probably between three and six months, during which
\ntime we can educate visitors on the policy and be more flexible
\nin relation to the penalties involved,\" Prana stated.<\/p>\n
This was, he argued, a much better policy than summarily
\nputting a weary traveler back on a plane for another, say, 16-
\nhour-long transcontinental flight.<\/p>\n
Perhaps more importantly, when the latest data for February is
\ncompared with the data on foreign tourist arrivals over the last
\nfive years, a sharp decline actually becomes evident. With one
\nsingle exception in 2001, the data from 1999 up to 2003 shows
\nthat the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the month of
\nFebruary is generally higher than in January.<\/p>\n
In 2003, for instance, the number of people entering Bali in
\nFebruary was 67,469 people, which was 6,633 more visitors than
\nthe number recorded in the previous month. This year, however, an
\nanomaly is evident with the number of tourists recorded in
\nFebruary being 18,778 less than the 104,062 tourists recorded in
\nJanuary.<\/p>\n
\"Was the implementation of the VoA policy responsible for the
\ndecrease? Well, I believe it's still to early to make a judgment
\n-- any judgment,\" tourism observer Dwi Yani stressed.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/tourists-undeterred-by-visa-on-arrival-for-now-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}