SEOUL, KOREA - The Indonesian government said it would implement a visa exemption program to five countries including Korea beginning in January next year, local media reported on November 6. Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Indroyono Soesilo said on the 5th in a cabinet meeting that his government would give visa exemption privileges to citizens of South Korea, China, Japan, Australia, and Russia as a way to encourage more of them to visit Indonesia.
Currently the Southeast Asian nation is implementing the visa-on-arrival program by which tourists from these countries must buy a visa stamp on arrival. Once the new scheme is in place, the Indonesian government will lose US$11.3 million revenue. Instead, the minister said, it will gain an additional tourism income of $540 million a year if every tourist spends an average of $1,200.
The minister continued that the foreign visitor numbers will increase to 10 million in 2015 and 20 million by 2019 if the government keeps expanding its no-visa policy to other countries. Indonesia is currently granting the visa exemption status to citizens of 15 countries including Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Hong Kong, as well as the ASEAN member nations.
Article provided by The Korea Economic Daily
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