Minister of Tourism again criticized visa policy

Minister of Tourism again criticized visa policy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Culture and Tourism I Gede Ardika reiterated his
strong opposition to the government's plan to implement a
stricter visa policy next month, saying it would badly hurt the
country's tourism industry.

Ardika insisted that the policy should be reconsidered as the
country's tourism industry still needed support to fully recover
from the impacts of the terrorist attacks in Bali and the JW
Marriot hotel in Jakarta and the outbreak of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

"There has been a significant decrease in the number of
tourist arrivals," he was quoted by Antara as saying during a
ceremony in Bali on Saturday.

Foreign tourist arrivals were down 14.2 percent to 305,500 in
November 2003, from 356,075 in October, but up 27.42 percent
year-on-year, the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) said on
Friday.

The government has been planning to scrap its longtime policy
of free 60-day visits for tourists from dozens of countries,
replacing it with a more bureaucratic and expensive policy,
wherein tourists will need to apply for a visa and pay US$25. The
whole process may be done on arrival, but will still be time-
consuming and more expensive than tourists are used to paying
now.

The new policy has been planned for several months, but
delayed several times. Minister of Justice and Human Rights, the
originator of the policy, said on Friday that the government
would implement it next month.

Under the Presidential Decree No. 103/2003 dated Dec. 17,
2003, Indonesia will give free visas to tourists from just 11
countries, compared to 48 countries previously.

The countries, which will still be able to enter the country
at no cost are Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darrusalam,
the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco, Peru and
Vietnam.

The countries which will lose their free facilities, but still
be able to apply for a 30-day visa include South Africa,
Argentina, Denmark, The United Arab Emirates, Italy, Canada,
Poland, South Korea, New Zealand, France, the United States,
Britain, Australia, Japan, German, Hungary, Norway, Switzerland,
Taiwan, Brazil and Finland.

The new policy also cuts the length of stay in Indonesia for
short-term visitors from 60 days to 30 days.

Tourists will also have an option to pay just US$10 for a
three-day visit and a maximum of $25 for 30-day visit.