JAKARTA - Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry said on June 24 that wider visa-free entry could help Indonesia draw more foreign tourists, arguing that travel access now shapes competition among Southeast Asian destinations.
The ministry pointed to Indonesia’s 2016 visa-free policy, when BVK covered 169 countries. It cited a World Travel & Tourism Council study with Oxford Economics that linked the policy to a 24 percent rise in foreign tourist demand and about 400,000 jobs. The ministry made the case in an official release on Bebas Visa Kunjungan, or BVK.
A later calculation using 2018 arrivals put the estimated demand impact at 32.4 percent, the ministry said. It also cited Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation findings that easier entry rules can lift foreign arrivals by 7.2 percent to 27 percent.
But Indonesia’s Immigration has urged caution. Director General of Immigration Hendarsam Marantoko said on June 22 that the proposal should be evaluated before Indonesia expands visa-free access again, according to Indonesia’s state-owned agency Antara.
“We ask that this proposal be thought through again and evaluated, because visa-free entry has been done before,” Hendarsam said in Jakarta.
Hendarsam said Indonesia had applied a wider visa-free policy from 2015 to 2024 for 165 countries, but he argued that it did not meaningfully add to foreign-exchange earnings. He also pointed to concerns over low-spending visitors, misuse of stay permits and security risks.
BVK allows eligible visitors to stay for up to 30 days and cannot be extended. VoA gives a 30-day stay and can be extended once for another 30 days, according to Immigration guidance.
The current BVK list is far smaller. Immigration’s official BVK page lists 17 eligible subjects, including ASEAN countries, Hong Kong, Türkiye, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Suriname, and Singapore permanent residents entering through certain checkpoints.
Indonesia still offers a wider paid entry route. Immigration’s VoA list names 97 eligible countries and territories, including Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, the United States and several European states.
Foreign arrivals have continued to rise under the current mix of entry rules. BPS said Indonesia recorded 1.25 million foreign tourist visits in April, up 7.22 percent from a year earlier, in its June 2 release.
