YOGYAKARTA ~

Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya has estimated that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Indonesia will increase by 2 million annually, following the extension of the free visa policy to 30 countries in June.

“It can be predicted easily. (There will be a rise of) at least 20 percent from the 10 million (targeted tourist visits for 2015); we will have 2 million more tourists,” he said here on Tuesday.

According to the minister, an increase in the number of tourists will most likely be achieved as visa is one of the factors taken into consideration by foreign tourists before they travel to Indonesia.

“Thailand and Malaysia implemented the free visa policy. Despite not being too different from Indonesia in terms of natural beauty, foreign tourists choose Thailand over Indonesia,” he remarked.

Tourist arrivals in Indonesia are still far less than that in Thailand, which now sees 29 million tourists, while the figure reaches 26 million per year in Malaysia, Yahya pointed out.

He affirmed that the free visa policy will raise tourist visits in Indonesia to more than those in Thailand and Malaysia.

“Also, there are many more attractive tourist destinations in Indonesia as compared to the two countries, such as the Borobudur Temple that is well known across the world,” he stated.

Yahya further noted that tourism managers in Indonesia should also explore cultural similarities with other countries and present them in their concepts and services.

“As with tourists from the Middle East, Indonesia should take advantage of the cultural aspect that it is the largest Muslim country in the world,” he suggested. Previously, the Indonesian government plans to waive visa requirements for 30 more countries from July 1 to attract more tourists.

“The free visa facility may increase the number of tourist arrivals,” Deputy for Overseas Tourism Marketing Development of the Ministry of Tourism I Gede Pitana said after the opening of the Bali and Beyond Travel Fair here on Thursday.

The addition of 30 new countries to Indonesia’s free visa list is expected to increase the number of tourist arrivals by around 5 percent to 10 million from last year’s 9.5 million, he added.

“We will see a rise of at least 500 thousand tourists,” Pitana affirmed.

One of the 30 countries that will be included in the free visa list is India, he pointed out.

So far, Indonesia has applied its free visa policy for citizens of the nine member states of ASEAN as well as Chile, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Macau, Morocco and Peru.

“If the 30 countries are included in the second phase of the free visa list, the number of countries that will enjoy free visa facilities will be 45,” he noted.

Among other countries in the list, which will come into effect on July 1, are China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

In addition, he stated that the government had discussed the inclusion of these 30 countries in its free visa list at length.

The Indonesian government has set itself the target of attracting 20 million tourists by 2019.

Last year, the number of tourists visiting Indonesia rose 7.19 percent to 9.44 million, up from 8.8 million in 2013, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Also, the number of tourist arrivals in the world-renowned resort island of Bali reached 3.7 million last year.