Singapore protests against Indonesia's new visa policy

Sari P. Setiogi and Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Singapore

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has complained to the Indonesian government over its plan to revoke the visa-free facility for the citizens of 37 countries, saying the plan would hurt the city-state's tourist industry.

Indonesian tourism players have also voiced similar concerns, saying the policy would add to the pains caused by terrorists to the country's tourism.

Of the 37 countries, the citizens of 23 of them will be eligible for visas upon arrival. Citizens of the remaining 15 will have to apply for visas at diplomatic missions in their countries of residence.

"Actually, Singapore is not among the 23 countries that will lose the visa-free facility. But they protested the policy because it might have an impact on Singapore's tourism," Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Mochamad Slamet Hidayat told The Jakarta Post on Thursday in Singapore.

The STB argued that most international tourists who visit Indonesia continue their trip to Singapore, and vice versa.

Indonesia has two tourist destinations that are geographically close to Singapore, that is Batam and Bintan island. It only takes about 45 minutes to reach Singapore by ferry from one of the islands.

Many visitors to Bali, Indonesia's main tourist destination, stop over in Singapore.

It is not the first complaint by the Singaporean government concerning Indonesia's visa policy. Singapore has several times asked Indonesia to review its departure tax policy, saying it discouraged people from visiting Singapore.

Last year, 1.4 million Indonesians traveled to Singapore.

Today, under Presidential Decree No. 15/1983, Indonesia allows nationals of 48 countries to visit the country without a visa.

However, last month, the government announced that starting Dec. 1 this year, the citizens of only 11 countries would be entitled to the facility, namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco, Turkey and Peru.

With regards to visitors from the 23 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, France, New Zealand and Taiwan, they will be issued a visa upon arrival for US$30.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the visa-on-arrival policy was made based on the reciprocity and mutual benefit principles.

Separately, owner of the Novotel Hotel in Batam, Anas, said most international tourists visiting Batam came from Singapore and Malaysia.

"Many travel agents, particularly in Europe, offer travel packages to three countries: Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia," he said.

The new policy sparked protests from the tourism community, especially in Bali. People in the industry have staged several demonstrations, saying the new policy will make visitors less inclined to come to the country.

It would thus badly hurt domestic tourism, which is still reeling from the impacts of the Bali and JW Marriott Hotel bombings.

However, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Wednesday that despite the terror attacks, foreign tourist arrivals rose slightly to 368,217 in August from 364,952 in the July.