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Indonesia visa free entry

The Indonesian Government is planning on adding another 20 countries to get a 30 day Indonesia visa free entry. This policy is aimed at boosting the foreign exchange earnings to US$ 20 billion from the target of 20 million foreign tourists visit in 2019.

Rizal Ramli

Dr. Rizal Ramli – Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs

Maritime Coordinating Minister Rizal Ramli said that adding another 20 countries to the Indonesia visa free list is planned to be effective at the end of this year. “Before the end of the year, we will deliver another 20 visa-free countries, including Eastern European countries,” he said, Tuesday (24/11).

Why isn’t Australia on the Indonesia visa free list yet? Find out more here … 

According to Rizal, this strategy is done in order to achieve the target of foreign exchange earnings. In the current year the target for foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector is US$ 10 billion. In the next five years, the amount of foreign exchange is expected to double to US$ 20 billion.

The government has already made considerable increases in the number of countries that can get a 30 day Indonesia visa free entry. At the beginning of this year (2015) only 15 countries were visa-free. In June another 30 countries were added and in October another 45 countries bringing the current total for a visa free entry to 90 countries. With the addition of 20 countries by the end of this year the total number of countries enjoying visa free visits will reach 110 countries.

Without mentioning which countries will get the Indonesia visa free entry, Rizal said the government would focus on countries that are active in the combatting the drug trade and have a potential for increased visitors to Indonesia.

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Loosened regulations for cruise ships

Indonesia free visa in Indonesia harbourAccording to Rizal, in addition to adding countries to the visa free list the Indonesian government has also loosened permit regulations for cruise ships which add a stop in Indonesia. The previous licensing process could take months and this will be accelerated to just a few days. With this improvement the targeted number of foreign tourist ship visiting Indonesia next year could reach 3,000 vessels and 5,000 vessels by 2019.

In the next five years, the government will also develop 10 tourism regions outside Bali. These ten tourist attractions include Lake Toba, Thousand Islands, the Borobudur Temple, Mount Bromo, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, South Lombok and Raja Ampat. The government will establish the Tourism Authority Board (Badan Otoritas Pariwisata) which Rizal aims to be operational before end 2015.

Borobudur Temple

Borobudur Temple

The Government will also increase the Indonesian tourism promotion budget next year. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that next year’s budget in the tourism sector will rise from Rp 2.4 trillion in 2015 to Rp 5.6 trillion in 2016. Of that amount Rp 2.95 trillion to Rp 3.175 trillion will be used for tourism promotion abroad.

Source: Ministry of Tourism