'Controversial new visa policy will kill tourism'

'Controversial new visa policy will kill tourism'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Nusa Dua

The new controversial visa policy will hurt the tourism industry
as citizens of countries enjoying visa-on-arrival will have to
obtain the facility for different destinations.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said
on Tuesday that visas-on-arrival would be valid only in the place
of issuance and the surrounding areas. The facility could be
applied for in all international airports and seaports

"Visitors will only be allowed to enter certain parts of the
country where the visa-on-arrival is issued and will have to
repeat the process if they visit other places here," Yusril told
a media conference held to reveal details of the visa policy,
which was adopted through a presidential decree on March 31.

The visa-on-arrival is not extendible and only valid for 30
days. A visitor may only reapply for the facility after they
leave the country for two weeks, Yusril said.

The minister indicated the government expected to generate
revenue from the charges.

"It's a big revenue source. Other countries generate revenue
from it, so why don't we?" he said, saying the government would
use the money to promote domestic tourism abroad as well as to
improve immigration services.

Yusril said a visitor may be charged between US$40 and US$45
for a visa-on-arrival.

Visa-on-arrival facilities will be awarded to some of the 38
foreign countries currently scrapped from the list of visa-free
for short visit recipients and those who contribute much to
Indonesia's tourist industry.

The presidential decree on the new visa policy maintains
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the
Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco, Turkey and Peru
based on a reciprocity basis.

Yusril said people of countries that had lost the visa-free
privilege would either have to apply for one at an Indonesian
embassy or buy one upon arrival.

The new visa policy, he said, emulates the immigration
regulations imposed by the Hong Kong administration for "internal
security considerations".

"We have found some foreign activists who support separatist
movements here used visa-free entry for short visits here,"
Yusril said.

Yusril was referring to two foreign women who recently stood
trial for visa offenses in the war-torn province of Aceh. They
were jailed and deported after they were found guilty.

The government, he said, is currently formulating guidelines
to implement the presidential decree that revokes the visa-free
entry for short visits for citizens from 38 countries.

"We will apply the decree as soon as we complete the
guidelines, which must be discussed with other cabinet members
beforehand," Yusril said.

It remains unclear how soon the new ruling will take effect,
although the presidential decree clearly stipulates the policy
came into effect when it was signed.

In the absence of the guidelines, the government still imposes
the old policy, permitting tourists from 49 countries to visit
for an extendible period of up to 60 days without a visa.

Separately, several tourism associations voiced strong
opposition to the implementation of the decree, and demanded its
immediate retraction or postponement.

They said that those countries were never viewed as prime
tourism markets by the Indonesian tourism industry.

"We have formed a lobby group tasked with persuading and
convincing the House of the Representatives and the central
government to revise, postpone, or if possible revoke the decree
altogether," Bali's Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI)
chairman I Gde Wiratha said on Tuesday.

Wiratha is attending a three-day informal coordination meeting
on the decree. Representatives from at least 11 associations
participated, including PHRI, the Association of Indonesian
Travel Agents (ASITA), the Association of Water Sports Operators
(Gahawisri), the Tourism Society of Indonesia (MPI) and the
Society of Indonesian Professional Convention Organizers (SIPCO).

Wiratha said the policy would hamper the country's tourism
industry as it was implemented at an inappropriate time,
referring to the fact that the industry was still reeling from
the impact of the terrorist attacks in the U.S. and Bali, the war
in Iraq and the spread of SARS.

However, an expert on tourism economics, Nyoman Erawan, said
it would not result in a significant drop in the number of
foreign tourists as the current market was different than the
market in the 1980s, when the visa-free system was introduced.

"Now we are dealing with the market that is basically very
quality-oriented and definitely well-informed on the condition of
any destination. In this case, the quality of services provided
by the destination will play a more important role in securing
the market than the visa-free entry privilege," he said.