Few Malaysian visitors to RI

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is not a very attractive place to visit for Malaysians compared to several other countries in the region, despite the close cultural ties between the nations, chairman of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Tunku Iskandar said.

Malaysians prefer holidaying in Singapore, Thailand, Australia, or China to Indonesia, he said after signing a joint action agreement with the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies (Asita) on Sunday.

Some eight million Malaysians go for holidays abroad each year, but only 500,000 of them visit Indonesia, Iskandar was quoted by Antara as saying.

On the other hand, the number of visitors to Malaysia from Indonesia, excluding job seekers, only numbers 200,000 a year, he said.

He did not specify the reasons why Malaysians were not very attracted to Indonesia.

But as far as Indonesian visitors were concerned, one of the reasons why few Indonesians come to Malaysia was because of the high fiscal rate the Indonesian government imposed on its citizens, Iskandar said.

The Indonesian government imposes a Rp 1 million (US$119) fiscal fee for its citizens as well as expatriates working in the country to go abroad. (10)