In its endeavours to overcome the negative impacts caused to the perception of Indonesia as a desirable destination for international visitors during the last few months, the Indonesian Ministry of Culture and Tourism has managed to obtain the approval from the Government for eleven more countries to receive the facility of visa-on-arrival (VOA).

In a press conference held during the World Tourism Organization`s TOURCOM Conference in Bali, Indonesia, on 21 May, the Deputy Minister for Marketing Mr. Udin Saiffudin announced that the Ministry was urging the Government to approve this important measure.

The policy is aimed at attracting foreign tourists to visit Indonesia. We have set a target of bringing in more than six million foreign tourists this year, Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said on the 14 June, after a meeting at the office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

The Government has decided to allow the nationals of 11 countries in Asia, Europe and the Middle East to obtain a visa-on-arrival (VOA) in an effort to attract more tourists to the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Egypt, Austria, Ireland, Qatar and Luxembourg are the additional countries granted the VOA facility. The Government is also in the process of granting a visa-on-arrival facility to the Netherlands and Sweden.

The countries which nationals have enjoyed this facility since 1 February 2004 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan (Pr. of China), United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States of America.

This decision brings the number of foreign countries to have been granted this facility up to 32. The visa-on-arrival will now be valid for either six or 30 days. A six-day visa will cost USD 10 while a 30-day visa will cost USD 25.

The visa-on-arrival will only take effect after the Minister`s Decree for Law and Human Rights has been issued.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is working very actively to respond to the challenges facing the industry. This new facility for visas will definitely contribute to stimulate more business in the sector and increase international visitors` arrivals.