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Latest Reports Foreign Tourist Arrivals
Starting from 2019 local authorities on Bali plan to impose a USD $10 levy on every foreign tourist who enters the popular tourist island. Meanwhile, the levy on the entry of a domestic tourist would be IDR 10,000 (approx. USD $0.70).
The flow of tourists to Bali, Indonesia's top tourist destination, is gradually recovering after the eruption of Mount Agung (although the volcano is still showing activity). Therefore, Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya is optimistic that Bali will welcome at least seven million foreign tourists in full-year 2018.
Indonesia will evaluate its visa-free policy as there are reports that some foreigners abuse this facility by conducting illegal activities in Indonesia, for example by taking up employment without having a work permit, engaging in drug trafficking, or spreading radical ideologies in the Archipelago. Through Presidential Regulation no. 21/2016 on Exemptions of Visit Visa, the government of Indonesia allowed citizens from a total of 169 countries to enter and stay within Indonesia (for a maximum period of 30 days).
It is highly likely that Indonesia will achieve its foreign visitor arrival target of 12 million people in 2016. In the first ten months of 2016 a total of 9.4 million foreigners already visited Indonesia, up 9.5 percent year-on-year (y/y) compared to foreign visitor arrivals in the same period one year earlier. Moreover, before the year-end, Indonesia's Tourism Ministry will organize several events - including a soccer tournament on the island of Bintan as well as the Festival Wonderful Indonesia - that should attract many additional foreign tourist arrivals.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia reached 5.29 million in the first half of 2016, up 5.9 percent (y/y) from the same period one year earlier. This implies that only 44 percent of the government's full-year target has been achieved so far. Indonesia's Tourism Ministry targets to welcome a total of 12 million foreign visitors in 2016. Meanwhile, according to the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign visitor arrivals declined in June 2016, both on a monthly and annual basis.
Based on the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Indonesia only managed to welcome 9.73 million foreign tourists in 2015, hence failing to achieve the government target at 10 million foreign tourist arrivals. However, BPS also mentioned that it has developed a new counting system. According to this new system the number of people that are counted as foreign tourists in 2015 is 10.41 million, thus considerably exceeding the target set for 2015. What are the differences between these two systems?
Indonesia's state news agency Antara reported on Friday (29/01) that the government of Indonesia will sign a regulation next week that allows visa-free visits for 80 additional countries, including Australia. Currently, a total of 90 countries already enjoy this visa-free facility (for trips that last a maximum of 30 days). Antara quoted the words of the country's Deputy Tourism Minister for Overseas Promotion I Gde Pitana. In 2015 the government provided this facility to an additional 45 countries in an effort to boost the tourism industry and generate more foreign exchange earnings.
Although the Indonesian government scrapped visit visa requirements for another 45 countries in mid-2015 (for a maximum stay period in Indonesia of 30 days) - with the aim of attracting more tourists - there has not been a marked increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2015. Therefore it is unlikely that Indonesia will achieve its target of welcoming 10 million foreign tourists in 2015. In the first ten months of the year a total of 8.0 million foreign tourist arrivals were reported.
Although the Indonesian government's target of welcoming 20 million foreign tourists by 2019 seems highly ambitious given that Indonesia may fail to achieve its target of seeing 10 million foreign visitor arrivals in 2015, several analysts claim that this target is too low. They believe that the target should be raised to 33 million foreign visitors, earning USD $40 billion in foreign exchange, hence replacing crude palm oil as the country's leading foreign exchange earner. However, this new target would only be possible if the government is serious about developing its 10 designated tourist destinations.
Arief Yahya, Indonesia's Minister of Tourism, said domestic tourists in Indonesia have spent more than IDR 140 trillion (approx. USD $10.1 billion) during the first nine months of 2015 and this figure is expected to rise sharply as many locals will use the Christmas and New Year period to take a holiday somewhere in the world's largest Archipelago. It is estimated that in the January-September 2015 period, domestic tourists made 187.3 million trips. This implies that in each trip a local tourist spends about IDR 750,000 (approx. USD $54) for transportation, hotels, food and souvenirs.
Latest Columns Foreign Tourist Arrivals
Whenever the topic of tourism in Indonesia is touched upon, most people will instantly think of Bali. This small but famous island harbors all sorts of entertainment that will appeal to various segments of international tourism: beautiful landscapes, Balinese Hinduism, lively nightclubs, beaches and more. But apart from Bali - and despite the fact that Indonesia has much to offer on other islands - the country has disappointed in attracting a large amount of foreign tourists so far.
