KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. The plan to grant visa-free visits to 20 countries is still under discussion. It was previously known that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) proposed the granting of visa-free visits to 20 countries.

The countries proposed to receive visa-free visits to Indonesia include, among others, Australia, China, India, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and several other Middle Eastern countries.

The Head of the Communication Bureau of Kemenparekraf, I.G.A Dewi Hendriyani, stated that the addition of countries benefiting from visa-free visit facilities requires a cross-ministerial/institutional coordination meeting, especially the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police, and others.

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"Let's respect all the processes that are ongoing and will take place," said Dewi, Sunday (28/1).

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The proposal of 20 countries is the result of a study and evaluation by Kemenparekraf, considering 6 indicators.

These include the number of foreign tourist visits, per capita income in the country, spending or expenses incurred by foreign tourists, global outbound, security conditions, and health quality.

Dewi explained that the proposed list of countries will be raised in a coordination meeting. It will then be further refined together to reach an agreement that will then be implemented into policy.

Based on a study by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Kemenparekraf revealed that the implementation of visa-free has an effect on 16.6% of the number of foreign tourist visits.

This is in line with the government's target of foreign tourist visits in 2024 of 9.5 million to 14.3 million visits. From this target, it is expected to earn tourism foreign exchange of US$ 7.38 billion (lower target) to US$ 13.08 billion (upper target).

For information, the achievement of foreign tourist visits from January to November 2023 was 10.41 million. In percentage terms, this realization reached 110.86% or exceeded the target set last year.

Dewi added that this year they are focused on continuing to fight for tourism-friendly policies. This includes fighting for visa-free visit policies.

"A seamless experience is one of the important things that must be felt by foreign tourists entering Indonesia, so it becomes a leverage that impacts the increase in the number of visits," she said.

Editor: Syamsul Azhar