VIVAnews - Indonesia will soon issue visas on arrival on planes. The policy will be implemented on February 1, 2010, during Garuda Indonesia’s flight from Tokyo To Denpasar to Jakarta.
The service has been trialed earlier in late December 2009 on Garuda Indonesia with the same route.
According to the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s Marketing Directorate General, Sapta Nirwandar, the new service aims to increase number of tourist visit and improve the quality of services. There have been complaints from the tourists about having to line up in a really long queue.
With the on board visa on arrival service, visitors only have to buy a visa on arrival payment voucher in Garuda Indonesia’s check-in counter at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Immigration officers will later check on the passports and issue visas on arrival on the plane.
“The service may also be provided for tourists from Australia and Korea,” Nirwandar said, as reported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry’s website.
The ministry expects the target of having 7 million foreign tourists would be achieved through the implementation of the policy.
In tourism, Bali is still on top. In 2009, the number of foreign tourists visiting Bali reached 2.3 million, climbing 21 percent from the previous year with 1.9 million visitors.
Global financial crisis started to show the signs of recovery in the second semester of 2009 which contributes to the increase in number of visitors in Bali.
“That means Bali is still a favorite destination in Asia,” Denpasar Bank Indonesia Head, Jeffrey Kairupan said on Thursday, January 28.
However, the crisis has also caused a slump in the amount of tourists’ daily expenses in Bali. “In 2008, foreign tourists spent US$ 148 per day while in 2009, they only spent US$ 105 per day,” he said.
Bali’s success of becoming a favorite travelling destination in Asia has also brought several basic consequences.
This year, Kairupan predicted a jump in the amount of foreign and domestic tourists due to the economic crisis recovery which will boost goods and services demand on which Bali’s economy depends.
There is also an infrastructure challenge especially in transportation sector. Various aspects of modernization in Bali are also predicted to clash with the island’s traditional culture.
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Coverage by : Dewi Umaryati|Bali
Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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