Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism has proposed expanding the country’s Visa-Free Visit (Bebas Visa Kunjungan/BVK) scheme to include travellers from Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, along with permanent residents (PRs) of Singapore, as part of efforts to strengthen international tourism.
The proposal, which is still under discussion with relevant ministries and government agencies, is based on tourism performance indicators including visitor numbers, tourist spending and the sustainability of visitor growth.
Speaking at the launch of the “New Way to Vacation in Indonesia” campaign in Jakarta on Thursday (25 June), the Ministry’s Senior Expert and spokesperson, Nia Niscaya, said the proposed expansion was supported by long-term tourism data.
“Our considerations are based on the 3Ss and historical statistical data,” she said, as quoted from Antara.
According to Nia, the proposal reflects an assessment of three key indicators that determine which markets have the greatest potential to contribute to Indonesia’s tourism industry.
Proposal Based on Visitor Numbers, Spending and Sustainable Growth
Nia explained that the first indicator is size, referring to the number of visitors from each country over the past 10 to 15 years.
The second indicator is spending, which measures how much international visitors spend while travelling in Indonesia. The Ministry uses tourist expenditure surveys to assess the economic contribution of each market.
The third indicator is sustainability, which considers whether visitor arrivals from a particular country have shown consistent and sustainable growth over time.
“We weighed size, spending, and sustainability, and those countries came up,” she added.
According to Nia, the Ministry initially proposed around 20 countries to be included in the visa-free programme. However, after consultations with other ministries and government institutions, the proposal was narrowed to focus on priority tourism markets.
The latest proposal follows a revised 7+1 scheme, consisting of six countries—China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand—alongside Singaporean permanent residents. The revision replaces an earlier 8+1 proposal, which had also included Belarus, Kazakhstan and Macau.
Singapore Permanent Residents Included in Revised Scheme
In addition to the six countries, the Ministry is seeking to extend visa-free entry to Singapore permanent residents, who currently enjoy visa-free access only when travelling to the Riau Islands.
“Now, we’re asking whether they can not only visit the Riau Islands visa-free, but also visit other parts of Indonesia, because this is also good for the distribution of tourists and also for regional development,” Nia said.
She explained that Singapore permanent residents represent a sizeable international market because they comprise foreign nationals who live, work, study or retire in Singapore on a long-term basis.
According to the Ministry, improving visa accessibility remains one of the key strategies for increasing international visitor arrivals, strengthening Indonesia’s competitiveness as a tourism destination and boosting foreign exchange earnings from the tourism sector.
However, Nia stressed that the proposal has not yet been approved and remains under discussion with the Directorate General of Immigration and other ministries under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.
“The decision isn’t ours. We are also working with Immigration and relevant ministries in ongoing discussions. Let’s wait for the results,” she concluded.
If approved, the expanded visa-free scheme would represent one of Indonesia’s latest efforts to simplify entry procedures for travellers from major tourism source markets while supporting more balanced tourism growth across different regions of the country.
