Indonesia is planning to grant free tourist visa to its most frequent visitors, namely the citizens of Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia.
The Indonesian government’s intention to remove the visa on arrival fee to these five countries was announced on November 5th, 2014, with the idea to enforce the decision from next year.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, this plan will attract more tourists to Indonesia. Considered that Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia account for more than half of the tourists visiting the country, the removal of the visa on arrival requirements will boost arrivals from these five target countries. The government goal is to attain 20 million arrivals by 2019, with an expected 450,000 from these five key markets only.
In fact, it is believed that lower tourist visa fees will attract more tourists, who will have more money to spend inside the country. “We may lose US$25 per tourist in visa fees, but will receive US$1,200 through their spending,” Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs, Indroyono Susilo recently declared.
Currently, there are 15 countries eligible to enter Indonesia without a visa:
- Thailand,
- Malaysia,
- Singapore,
- Myanmar,
- Brunei,
- Philippines,
- Vietnam,
- Laos,
- Cambodia,
- Hong Kong SAR,
- Macau SAR,
- Chile,
- Morocco,
- Peru
- Ecuador
Citizens coming from other countries need to pay a visa on arrival fee of 35 USD for a 30-days stay.
Read here the latest visa update from Heriyanto, S.E., S.H., M.Si, the Head of Public Relations and Administration at the Directorate General of Immigration in Jakarta on January 5th, 2015.
