Australians may soon be able to travel to Bali visa-free again, saving travellers about $50 each.
Indonesia’s Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno told local media last week they were looking at reintroducing visa-free travel for 20 countries, which had the highest number of visitors.
Among the countries selected are Australia and New Zealand, the Bali Post reported.
Ross Taylor, founder of the Indonesia Institute which promotes Indonesia-Australia relations, told The West Australian he understood the decision had already been signed off on to start in the new year.
Visa-free travel was formally scrapped in June, with Indonesian officials confirming the policy, which was suspended during the pandemic, would not be reinstated.
It came amid a crackdown on foreigners’ behaviour in Bali.
Officials had said at the time they didn’t need a visa-free system to attract international tourists post-Covid, new visa rules would encourage “quality” tourists, and reinstating visa-free travel would be considered if other countries were willing to give Indonesian citizens the same privilege.
ASEAN nations have an agreement that allows tourists to travel between the countries visa-free and that remained unchanged. The countries include Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
Currently, Australian tourists heading to Bali need to get a Visa on Arrival (VOA) at Bali Airport or online before even landing in Indonesia (e-VOA), which allows them to stay for 30 days, with the option to extend for another 30 days, and costs about $50 (500,000 IDR).
It is not to be confused with the new Bali tourist tax, which is due to start on February 14 next year.
That is a 150,000 IDR charge (about $15) that all international tourists must pay when entering the popular holiday island.
“This money will be used in our efforts to establish sustainable tourism,” Deputy Tourism Minister Ni Made Ayu Marthini told news.com.au during a visit to Melbourne in October.
“Primarily, these funds will be used to improve waste management, preserve cultural sites and the local environment. We call this sustainable tourism.”
The potential scrapping of the visitor visa and its associated $50 fee is said to be an effort to increase foreigners’ spending in Indonesia.
Mr Taylor said Australians were important to Bali because they get into the community.
“When we get up there, we go down and sit on beanbags and sip Bintang, we go to little stores,” he told The West Australian.
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“The Australian tourism dollar in Bali really gets spread around the Balinese economy and that’s very, very important to them.”
news.com.au has contacted the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Mr Taylor for further comment.
In Australia, the application fee for a visitor visa subclass 600, which affects tourists, was increased from $150 to $190 this year.
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