Sat, 30 Aug 2003

Want more tourists? Give them free hotel rooms: Minister

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government appears to be undeterred by a recent massive demonstration in Bali against the new visa policy and vows to start charging incoming tourists from countries such as Japan and Australia with visa fees, starting Oct. 1.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra on Friday slammed the protest in Bali as siding with foreigners and said the government would not back down.

He said his office would soon issue a decree to impose a visa fee of some US$30 per foreign visitor, excluding those from 11 countries, mostly in Southeast Asia.

"I don't understand (protesters in) Bali. Why didn't they take side with Indonesia? Indonesia is poor. Why fuss about 30 dollars (Rp 240,000) charged to foreigners? With only Rp 240,000 they can visit our country for 30 days.

"If they (the tourism industry community) want Bali to be festive, why don't they provide free-of-charge hotels? Many people will go there," he said.

Yusril argued that Indonesians must deposit a non-refundable fee of around $50 to apply for a short-visit visa at several foreign embassies here.

"If you want to go to Australia or the U.S, for example, you must deposit a non-refundable Rp 450,000 just for the visa. You don't make a fuss about it, although they may reject your request and then your money is gone," he said.

On Wednesday, thousands working in the tourism industry in Bali staged a street rally protesting the visa policy. They said that it would hurt the tourism industry, still recovering from last year's bombings.

Supporting the rally, State Minister of Tourism I Gede Ardika called for the postponement of the implementation of a presidential decree revoking the visa-free-facility to visitors from 48 countries.

Yusril said that his office would maintain its stance to only grant visas-free-on-arrival through a reciprocity principle.

The presidential decree, dated March 31, grants free-visas-on- arrival for a 30-day visit to nationals of 11 countries, namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco, Turkey and Peru.

However, Yusril said that he had suggested the government withdraw Turkey from the list, as it no longer grants the same conditions to Indonesians.

Starting Oct. 1, tourists coming from countries -- previously enjoying the visa-free-facility -- must pay for their visas but can request to pay on arrival.

Yusril said the amount of the fee would be discussed at a Cabinet meeting, possibly next week.

"We will discuss the charge for visitors, whether it will be the same fee for all visitors from all countries (not entitled to free visas)," Yusril told reporters.

Yusril revealed that his ministry had prepared sophisticated electronic devices for several international airports and sea ports in the country to process visa-on-arrival requests from visitors.

The devices, he said, would enable officers to proceed the requests within seconds.