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News from the World Tourism Organization
INDONESIA KEEPS PROMISES: VISA ON ARRIVAL FOR ELEVEN MORE NATIONS
JAKARTA, INDONESIA, 17 June 2005 - 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.
--
Information Center, Ministry of Culture and Tourism Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat
No. 17 Jakarta Tel. +62 21 3838 567, Fax. +62 21 386 0931
Email: humas@budpar.go.id
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