Govt sets tourism 2005 on China, India, Mideast

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government will target tourists from China, India and the Middle East to increase revenue from the sector next year and reach its target of six million visitors and US$6 billion in foreign exchange.

State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik announced recently that only 80,000 tourists from China visited the country in 2004, a stark difference from the 700,000 visiting Singapore.

Therefore, Jero said, his office planned to cooperate with the Singapore Tourism Board to make attractive packages that include Indonesia, for example three days in the city-state followed by a week in the archipelago.

Another step to be taken is the establishment of an immigration office in the Indonesian Consulate in Guangzhou following two years of preparation.

"The representative office will start issuing visas in February," said Jero.

Another immigration office will be opened in Shanghai, another city with a high number of globe-trotters. The opening of these representative offices is expected to bring a dramatic increase in arrivals from China.

To promote Indonesia's beauty to the people in the Middle East, the tourism office will work with the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration to distribute brochures in Arabic through migrant workers.

"About 3,000 workers go to the Middle East every month. When their employers ask them where they're from, the workers can show them the brochures," said Jero.

A memorandum of understanding between the two institutions will be signed later this week.

Indonesia has experienced difficulty in luring foreigners after the 2002 bombing on the paradise island of Bali.

A blast in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in October last year proved to be another blow, especially after the United States, several European countries and Australia issued repeated warnings against traveling to the country.

The number of foreign arrivals in general, however, is increasing. In the first 10 months of 2004, some 3.8 million people entered the country through 13 ports, generating approximately $3.9 billion in foreign exchange.

"We are optimistic that our targets for the year -- 5.3 million visitors and $5 billion in forex revenue -- will be reached," said Jero.

As part of the 100-day program of the new administration, the government is also considering revising the controversial visa-on-arrival policy, in that visa validity may be increased from three days to seven days and from 30 days to 60 days. The fee may also be reduced from $35 to $25.

Jero said that the number of visa-on-arrival counters at Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport would be increased from 10 to 22 to prevent long queues, adding that the counters would eventually total 30.

The visa-on-arrival policy was introduced in February last year and the number of countries whose citizens are eligible was cut from 60 to 21. The government waives visa for tourists from nine other countries -- mostly other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- on the basis of reciprocity.

Foreign tourism development in Indonesia

Year Number of tourists Foreign exchange

(in million) (in billions of US$)

1997 5.185 5.321

1998 4.606 4.331

1999 4.728 4.710

2000 5.064 5.741

2001 5.154 5.411

2002 5.033 4.496

2003 4.428 4.000

2004* 5.300 5.000

*estimated

Source: The office of State Minister of Culture and Tourism