On new visa

As a fairly frequent business traveler to Indonesia I now find myself postponing trips for one simple reason: The newly introduced visa requirements. The thought of having to queue for ages on arrival, or having to apply at the embassy prior to my visit is just too inconvenient -- except in the most urgent of cases. I know European friends who have canceled holidays to your country for the same reason, and I shall be staying in Malaysia over the Labor Day weekend rather than having to face an hour at Denpasar (with a baby) filling in forms.

Whoever introduced this policy has not thought it through properly. As well as annoying the business traveler and holidaymaker this measure will also hit the backpacking tourist, many of whom used to spend the full 60 days permitted traveling from island to island, spending something in the region of US$20 per day.

Okay, so it is not $200 a night in Bali but it is quite a lot to the losmen and food-stall owners in Flores or Sulawesi, for example, and these travellers will be put off by both the inconvenience and the visa fee, plus the fact that the maximum stay has been halved to 30 days.

Indonesia has to compete hard for the tourist and business dollar, especially with the latest sad events in Ambon dominating the news.

JAMES HAY Kuala Lumpur