Few Malaysian visitors to RI

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)