March 17, p1

The government will waive visa requirements for 30 countries as early as next month to boost the country'€™s foreign exchange income from the tourist industry, as President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo broadens the size of his economic package to support the ailing rupiah.

Your comments:

US$35 visa on arrival is not the deal breaker for many tourists, what is, especially for repeater guests, are the queues and hassle you have to go through to get it; long lines, frequently incompetent staff, etc. If this country is to be more welcoming to foreign guests then I think the government should make it clear, it'€™s more about the initial welcome to the country than the actual $35.

But I think they should go a step further too, as mentioned in a previous comment, reduce tax on wines, not necessary on the hard stuff, but definitely on wine. Airport tax should be in the price of the ticket.

Pew

Bali was always seen as an attractive destination for Australians because it was so cheap.

The gradual increase in the visa on arrival to $35 and the departure tax, which is now Rp 200,000 ($15.40), has added to the other increasing prices and makes it less attractive.

This exclusion of Australia (after it was originally included in the list) will just make other destinations like Malaysia and Thailand (who have no charges) more attractive and possibly harm the locals in places like Bali.

I can understand the reason, because the current Australian government has shown no respect for the sovereignty of Indonesia with its refugee policy, and the many comments made by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, particularly the one about the tsunami aid, which has angered many Indonesians.

Jungle George

I'€™m not an economist, but I don'€™t think that this visa waiver program will significantly help the ailing rupiah as suggested. Besides, how big is the proportion or contribution of the tourism sector to the total income of Indonesia anyway?

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that the main factor that has deteriorated the rupiah lately is the current uncertain political situation in the country, especially the bad image projected by the indecisive or passive Jokowi in handling the problem between the KPK and the police.

I believe that no investors will have the guts or willingness to invest in this country as long as the domestic political situation is not conducive.

Istbad

I don'€™t think that the visa waiver is a bad decision at all though. If you look at the list of countries you see that they are all pretty far away and not many visitors from there would have to cancel a visit because they are '€œtoo poor'€ to afford the $35.

But it sends a bad signal and shows that they are not really welcome. It'€™s also a matter of competing with other countries in the region.

If the potential visitor compares his options then the visa is clearly a negative point and if he is otherwise undecided this can make the difference for selecting Thailand, Malaysia, etc. over Indonesia.

Someo

It doesn'€™t make sense at all. All you will be attracting is the poor who only come because they get a free visa. If people have money for a holiday, paying for a visa would be done in the blink of an eye. I only see the rupiah dropping more because of this; did anyone do a study on this at all?

K. Dyo

Hi everyone. I see this list and I am a bit sad. Why does Indonesia exclude its closest and oldest allies in Europe, former Yugoslavian countries like Serbia, not only from the visa-free list but also from the visa-on-arrival list? We might not be super rich but at least we would be interested in signing a mutual visa waiver with Indonesia, while the United States, Britain and EU will never agree to allow Indonesians without a visa. I ask the Indonesian government to please allow us to at least obtain visas on arrival.

Patrick P

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