The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia has revealed that Australia is the largest source of overseas visitors to the country, representing nearly 40% of foreign arrivals.
Prior to the pandemic Indonesia was, after New Zealand, the second leading destination for Australian tourists, with a total of 1.4 million trips made in 2019.
With the country looking to again attract overseas its inbound tourism market is returning, propelled by Indonesia’s visa-on-arrival (VoA) policy to Bali.
As of July 2022, the total number of foreign visitors to Indonesia reached 476,970, with more than half of the arrivals being visitors to Bali (246,504 arrivals).
According to the Indonesian Minister of Tourism and the Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, these numbers are the highest recorded since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On a cumulative basis, from January until July 2022, foreign visitors totaled 1.2 million people, 15 times more than the same period in 2021.
Minister Sandiaga advised that foreign visitors to Indonesia are dominated by five source countries: Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the USA.
He went on to declared that the significant increase in foreign visitors to Indonesia is fundamentally fueled by travellers using the VoA arrangement for Bali.
Speaking of the Bali arrivals, Minister Sandiaga noted “this represents the highest number of arrivals since the pandemic with daily arrivals in the thousands. These visitors are entering Indonesia via Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Addressing the VoA program, Minister Sandiaga said 75 countries are now eligible to receive VoA with the recent addition of the Maldives, Monaco, and Columbia.
Citizens of ASEAN Nations (the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) are eligible for a visa-free visit to Indonesia.
About the author
Nigel Benton
Co-founder/Publisher, Australasian Leisure Management
Nigel Benton is the co-founder and Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management, Australia and New Zealand’s only magazine for professionals in all areas of the leisure industry. Having established the magazine in 1997, shortly after his relocation to Australia, he has managed its readership rising to over 11,500 and its acceptance as the industry journal for professionals in aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues.
In 2020, he launched the new Asian Leisure Business website.
Among a range of published works and features, his comments on a Blog (blogspot) from 2007 to 2011, when this website went live in its current form, may be interesting to reflect back on.
Click here to connect with him via LinkedIn.
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