The visa-on-arrival program is boosting visitor numbers, said Sandiaga Uno, Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and Creative Economies in Jakarta this week.
The Minister told reporters that the country’s visa-on-arrival program has a direct impact on Bali’s tourism numbers. “According to the data, 476,970 international visitors came to Indonesia in July 2022, he said. The figure is the highest since the start of the COVID -19 pandemic.”
He shared that between January and July 2022, 1.2 million foreign visitors came to Indonesia, with Bali accounting for the majority of those arrivals. To demonstrate his confidence in the benefits of the visa-on-arrival scheme, Minister Uno provided statistics.
He revealed that, as expected for the first full peak season since the pandemic began, visitor arrivals increased by 40% from June to July 2022. Australia was the country with the most foreign visitors, followed by Singapore, Malaysia, India and the United States.
According to BPS (National Statistics Bureau), Minister Uno acknowledged that 84,600 Australian tourists traveled to Indonesia in July 2022 alone, a 31% increase from the previous month.
Singapore sent 59,800 tourists to Indonesia in July 2022, the second highest number among all countries. and 43,600 visitors came from Malaysia.
Minister Uno mentioned the volume of tourists going directly to Bali.
According to him, Bali received 246,504 foreign visitors in July 2022. With an average of 9,000 visits each day, it is the largest number since the pandemic first started.
He affirmed that Benoa Harbour and I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport were the main entry points for both domestic and foreign travelers into Bali.
The tourism minister stated that the visa-on-arrival program for the 75 nations now listed will be maintained. He mentioned the Maldives, Monaco, and Colombia as recent additions.
For citizens of the 75 countries, the visa on arrival costs IDR 500,000 (USD 33) and is payable upon arrival. This tourist visa is good for 30 days and can be extended once for another 30 days.