Visas for tourists
Visas for tourists
The government would gain virtually nothing by sharply cutting
the number of countries entitled to Indonesia's free visa-on-
entry policy. Such a bold measure would instead further hurt the
tourism industry which has been debilitated by security problems
in several provinces.
Marketing Indonesia as a viable tourist destination now is
already an uphill task as the country is still reeling from the
excesses of its transition from an authoritarian rule to a
democratic one and from a centralized government to regional
autonomy.
Adding insult to injury, the steady stream of bad news in
domestic and international mass media about security problems in
Aceh, Maluku and Central Sulawesi and international allegations
that the country is hospitable to terrorist elements have
projected Indonesia as an unsafe destination for travelers.
True, as Immigration Director General Imam Santoso said, a
number of visitors, including narcotics traffickers, had abused
the free visas to conduct business or work illegally.
Anywhere in the world, such a courtesy always faces the risk
of being abused. The question now is whether the risk is already
so big and entirely unmanageable that it immediately requires
such a drastic, sweeping measure.
Limiting the visa-free facility to countries on a reciprocal
basis would not help much in preventing drug dealers from
entering Indonesia. Networking with anti-narcotics commissions
overseas and exchanging intelligence information with them have
been and are still the most effective ways of combating drug
trafficking.
Likewise, the benefits that could be gained from minimizing
the abuse of tourist visas for those who illegally work in the
country would be rather negligible compared to the damages to the
tourism industry that a severely restrictive visa policy would
inflict.
Had it not been for the bad image Indonesia acquired soon
after the 1997 economic crisis and the 1998 political turbulence,
the country would now be a paradise for foreign travelers thanks
to the rock-bottom costs of local goods and services that were
brought about by the 70 percent loss the rupiah has suffered in
its value against the American dollar.
The wide variety of tourist attractions that the world's
largest archipelago country can offer is an advantage to woo
revisits.
As a resource-based industry, tourism is also one of the most
suitable businesses Indonesia should develop because of its
multiplier effect and the labor-intensive nature of its
operations. Travel-related businesses such as hotels,
restaurants, transportation, handicraft and cultural shows are
all labor intensive, just the kind of enterprises needed to
absorb the huge pool of job seekers.
There are perhaps some merits in the government's plan to
shorten the duration of the free visas for tourists from 60 days
now to 30 days because well-heeled, big-spending travelers that
the country wants to attract do not generally need such a lengthy
stay anyway.
However, severely reducing the number of countries eligible to
for free visas -- currently 48 -- and limiting the facility only
to countries on a reciprocal basis would only inflict more damage
to our tourism industry because that policy would force tourists
from our biggest markets to grapple with the arduous procedure
for obtaining visas.
It is worth reminding those in power, that the immigration
service is a vital component of the gateway to Indonesia.
Immigration officials are the first people that foreign visitors
deal with, and we should magnanimously acknowledge that our civil
servants are not among the most efficient in the world.
The blunt fact is we need foreign tourists with their hard
currency much more than they need us, and our country is not the
only exotic tourist destination in this part of the world. Just
witness how miserably low have been the occupancy rates of our
hotels.
If a country like Indonesia, still beset with so many
problems, made things more difficult for travelers, they would
simply choose other destinations.