Indonesia will evaluate its visa-free policy as there are reports that some foreigners abuse this facility by conducting illegal activities in Indonesia, for example by taking up employment without having a work permit, engaging in drug trafficking, or spreading radical ideologies in the Archipelago. Through Presidential Regulation no. 21/2016 on Exemptions of Visit Visa, the government of Indonesia allowed citizens from a total of 169 countries to enter and stay within Indonesia (for a maximum period of 30 days).

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It is highly likely that Indonesia will achieve its foreign visitor arrival target of 12 million people in 2016. In the first ten months of 2016 a total of 9.4 million foreigners already visited Indonesia, up 9.5 percent year-on-year (y/y) compared to foreign visitor arrivals in the same period one year earlier. Moreover, before the year-end, Indonesia's Tourism Ministry will organize several events - including a soccer tournament on the island of Bintan as well as the Festival Wonderful Indonesia - that should attract many additional foreign tourist arrivals.

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The Adonara Group, an Indonesian hotel operator, plans to open 20 new hotels up to the end of 2017. Before the end of this year it will see two new hotels opening its doors. Meanwhile the Adonara Group also seeks business expansion through the purchase of the international brand "Continent Hotel". Ruben Amor, Chief Executive Officer at the Adonara Group, said the 20 new hotels - all ranging between two and four star hotels - that are planned to be opened up to the end of 2017 will use the Adonara and Continent Hotel brands.

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Indonesia's Ministry of Health - in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - issued a 'travel advisory' for Singapore as the small Southeast Asian nation has been plagued by an outbreak of the Zika virus. By Wednesday (31/08), 82 people were reported to have been infected by the virus in Singapore. By issuing the travel advisory Indonesian authorities discourage citizens from traveling to Singapore, particularly pregnant women are warned. Indonesia is no stranger to mosquito-borne illnesses. The country has to cope with frequent outbreaks of dengue fever and malaria.

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Nadjamuddin Ramly, Director of Heritage and Cultural Diplomacy at Indonesia's Ministry of Education and Culture, said authorities plan to limit the number of visitors that are allowed to enter the Borobudur temple in Magelang (Central Java) to 15 people at one time. This move would relieve rising pressure on the structure of the ancient building. Especially in weekends and holidays hundreds of visitors enter the site causing concern about the preservation of the temple that is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

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The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia reached 5.29 million in the first half of 2016, up 5.9 percent (y/y) from the same period one year earlier. This implies that only 44 percent of the government's full-year target has been achieved so far. Indonesia's Tourism Ministry targets to welcome a total of 12 million foreign visitors in 2016. Meanwhile, according to the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), foreign visitor arrivals declined in June 2016, both on a monthly and annual basis.

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In its March 2016 Indonesia Economic Quarterly, titled "Private Investment is Essential", the World Bank cut its forecast for Indonesia's economic growth in 2016 to 5.1 percent year-on-year (y/y) from an earlier estimate of 5.3 percent (y/y). This downward revision was made due to weaker-than-expected global economic conditions, further weakening commodity prices, and limitations to Indonesian government spending brought about by a looming shortfall in tax revenue.

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Based on the latest data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Indonesia only managed to welcome 9.73 million foreign tourists in 2015, hence failing to achieve the government target at 10 million foreign tourist arrivals. However, BPS also mentioned that it has developed a new counting system. According to this new system the number of people that are counted as foreign tourists in 2015 is 10.41 million, thus considerably exceeding the target set for 2015. What are the differences between these two systems?

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Indonesia's state news agency Antara reported on Friday (29/01) that the government of Indonesia will sign a regulation next week that allows visa-free visits for 80 additional countries, including Australia. Currently, a total of 90 countries already enjoy this visa-free facility (for trips that last a maximum of 30 days). Antara quoted the words of the country's Deputy Tourism Minister for Overseas Promotion I Gde Pitana. In 2015 the government provided this facility to an additional 45 countries in an effort to boost the tourism industry and generate more foreign exchange earnings.

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The government of Indonesia is to allow bigger foreign ownership in a number of sectors. These sectors involve the cinema/film industry, tourism, leisure, trade, as well as the sugar and rubber industries. The move to increase opportunities for foreign investors by revising the country's Negative Investment List (in Indonesian: Daftar Negatif Investasi) is part of the government's ninth economic stimulus package (to be released soon), is designed to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) into Indonesia.

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In Indonesian media it was reported that Sandiaga Uno, who is Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, stated that the country managed to collect a total of USD $10.46 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the tourism industry during the first three quarters of 2023.

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Indonesia’s Statistical Agency (Badan Pusat Statistik, or BPS) announced at the start of February 2023 that it had recorded a total of 5.47 million foreign visitor arrivals in full-2022. It means Indonesia managed to achieve its foreign visitor target (quite easily) last year (which was set at the wide range of 1.8 – 3.6 million).

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As we have discussed in earlier reports and articles, the tourism industry is among the heaviest affected industries amid the COVID-19 crisis. Travel restrictions (such as mandatory COVID-19 tests and vaccines) and in some cases full travel bans set by governments across the world are discouraging people from traveling.

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Governments’ social and business restrictions (imposed in the context of preventing the further spread of COVID-19 in society) and people’s concern over the virus have damaged both the tourism and transportation industry in an unprecedented way.

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Those who live in Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta and find themselves frequently stuck in the middle of the city’s grave traffic congestion, while their horizons are being curtailed by the capital’s tall skyscrapers may want to escape this hectic metropolitan by spending a refreshing weekend in Bogor, a city – located some 50 kilometers south of Jakarta – that is particularly known for its Presidential Palace and the botanical gardens (in Indonesian: Kebun Raya Bogor).

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Indonesia's largest food and hospitality exhibition, Food & Hotel Indonesia 2019 will kick off its 15th edition on July 24, 2019 at JIExpo Kemayoran Jakarta. Organised by Pamerindo Indonesia, this four-day biannual expo highlights the breakthroughs that are transforming Indonesia's preferences in the new concept of food and hotel industries.

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At the 50th anniversary of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association in mid-February 2019, Indonesian President Joko Widodo emphasized that the tourism industry should become the biggest industry in Indonesia in terms of foreign exchange earnings. Indonesia – a huge Archipelago that consists of more than 17.000 islands – has so much to offer to (foreign) tourists, such as beautiful beaches and countryside, flora & fauna, diving spots, wildlife, culture, culinary, historic relics as well as vibrant city life. However, so far, it fails to tap its full potential.

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The tourism industry of Indonesia is one of the most important industries in terms of the nation's foreign exchange earnings. However, compared to its neighboring countries - specifically Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand - Indonesia lags behind in terms of foreign visitor arrivals. This "failure" is partly attributed to the weak state of Indonesia's infrastructure. This includes the lack of enough airports or the lack of enough aircraft and passenger handling capacity at existing airports.

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The Indonesian government is looking for big direct investment - both domestic and domestic direct investment - in Indonesia's tourism industry in its quest to turn the tourism industry into the nation's top foreign exchange earner, hence strengthening this industry's role toward the national economy. Therefore, the government formulated ten priority tourist destinations that are regarded to have great tourism potential.

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Players in Indonesia's tourism industry are optimistic that more than 15 million foreign tourists will visit Indonesia in full-year 2017. Based on the latest data from Indonesia's Statistics Agency (BPS), a total of 5.36 million foreigners went on holiday in the world's largest Archipelago in the first five months of 2017, up 20.9 percent (y/y) from foreign visitor arrivals in the same period one year earlier.

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