'Hip Hop Pass' to entice tourists, but locals still have exit tax
Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As an effort to boost the tourism sector in the country, the government launched on Wednesday the ASEAN "Hip Hop Pass 2004" package -- a program that offers a trip to several ASEAN countries at competitive prices.
State Minister of Tourism and Culture I Gede Ardika said that the program was aimed at attracting tourists from other southeast Asian countries to visit ASEAN member countries, including Indonesia.
"The program is in line with the government's objectives to boost the tourism sector as most tourists in our country come from the ASEAN region," said Ardika.
Data from the Office of the State Minister of Tourism and Culture shows that 45 percent of the 4.4 million tourists visiting the country last year were from ASEAN countries, 31 percent from other Asian countries and the rest from Western and Middle-Eastern countries. The ministry is hoping the figure will go up to 5 million tourists this year.
The ASEAN Hip Hop Pass is a one-year promotion, starting from April 15, 2004 to March 31, 2005 and is applicable only to citizens of the 10 ASEAN countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The program comprises three components: Air Pass, Hotel Pass and Tour Pass.
The Air Pass offers tourists visits to at least two ASEAN countries with three flight coupons at a price of US$399. For those who wish to visit more than two ASEAN countries, they can purchase additional flight coupons at $150 each. However, the maximum number of flight coupons for each Air Pass cannot exceed six.
The Hotel Pass offers tourists special room rates of $35, $50 and $70 for participating three-star, four-star and five-star hotels, respectively. However, the rates are applicable only for a maximum stay of seven nights per hotel.
The Tour Pass offers tourists airport-hotel-airport ground transfers at $30 net per passenger, with a minimum of two passengers traveling. However, it is only available for holders of the ASEAN Air Pass.
Ardika explained that the program was inexpensive and believed that it would encourage people from ASEAN countries to visit their neighbors.
However, the program may be ineffective for outbound Indonesian tourists, because the Hip Hop Pass does not include the exorbitant "exit tax" (locally known as fiskal) of Rp 1 million ($117.64), which severely discourages Indonesians from traveling abroad. None of the other ASEAN countries have such an exit tax for their own citizens.
To this, Ardika claimed that the government was considering to either reduce or scrap the high exit tax.
"It (the high tax) is still being discussed. If it is indeed a disadvantage to outbound tourists, we will either reduce or lift it," he said.