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.