Tour and travel companies in Batam, Riau Islands, on Thursday protested the new visa-on-arrival tariff, which was applied without prior notice on Tuesday, arguing it would badly hit their businesses.
Tour and travel company PT Andika VIT said the hike from the previous US$10 per visa to $25, caused it to lose an order from a group of 38 tourists from India, who cancelled their visit to Batam through the Harbor Bay ferry port on Thursday.
Head of Batam's Tourism Agency, Guntur Sakti, told The Jakarta Post the central government's new policy for a single visa-on-arrival tariff granted to 64 countries would badly affect the city's tourism industry.
"It's because the tour packages offered by tour and travel companies here still use the old $10 tariff for a week-long stay in Batam."
The hike, he said, would lead to additional financial burden for tour and travel companies as they would have to cover the loss.
Another tour and travel company, PT Indofast, has had to spend more to cover up the hike for the 50 Korean tourists it is due to serve this Saturday.
"We will review the *hike* impact next month. If it really causes a decrease in the number of foreign tourist visits to Batam, we will propose that central government review the policy," Guntur said.
Guntur said that most foreign tourists, especially those from the 64 countries listed for the visa-on-arrival policy, did not directly fly to Batam but dropped in Batam from Singapore. Most, he said, only spent three days in Batam and might be reluctant to pay $25 for the visa.
"The visiting tourists here are unlike those visiting Jakarta or Bali. They directly fly to the two cities and stay longer there and the new tariff would not greatly affect them."
Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies' (Asita) Batam municipal chapter, Kamsa Bakri, said the single tariff would be a serious setback for tourism. "Tour and travel companies here have had to start all over again, to deal with the impact of the government's new policy."
The government announced a new policy Tuesday that allows a visa-on-arrival for up to 60 days in its bid to encourage people to spend more time in the archipelago.
