Indonesia may be about to sweeten the deal for Australians considering a holiday to Bali (and we know there are a lot of those), with the very real possibility that the country could finally do away with its Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) fees for Aussie travellers.
Currently, every Australian tourist arriving in Bali is required to pay a Rp500,000 (a little under AU$50) VoA fee. But as it looks to lure even more Australian holidaymakers, Indonesian authorities are considering dropping the fee before October.
According to The West Australian, Robbie Gaspar, President of Perth’s Indonesia Institute, said the Southeast Asian nation knows that the current VoA could act as a deterrent for international visitors.
“We understand that Indonesia’s Minister for Tourism, Sandiaga Uno, will recommend that some 20 countries, including Australia, will be given visa-free entry into Indonesia, including Bali, before October when the nation’s new president is inaugurated,” Gaspar said.
“This will make it cheaper for Aussie families and we therefore expect to see another jump in the number of holidaymakers heading to our favourite island.”
Indonesia’s VoA was originally dropped for Aussies in 2016. This sparked a 15 per cent rise and a record 1.2 million visitors from Australia.
However, like in a lot of countries, Indonesia suspended visa-free travel during the COVID-19 pandemic – including to tourist hotspot Bali.
In 2023, the government said it would not be reinstating free entry except for nationals of Southeast Asian countries.
“We have not reactivated the visa-free regime. It will be replaced with a better policy,” Sandiaga Uno said last year.
Frustratingly for Australia-bound Indonesians and Aussie tourism operators, the Federal Government continues to charge prospective Indonesian visitors nearly $200 per person for visa application fees to travel Down Under.
“Not only has this decision frustrated Indonesian authorities but has acted as a significant disincentive for tourists from Indonesia and our region to holiday in Australia,” Gaspar told the WA.
“Last year 9.1 million Indonesians travelled abroad, but only 11,000 chose Perth as their destination with travellers taking advantage of the visa-free entry now offered to them from over 70 other countries.”
On top of the VoA fees, in February, Bali introduced a new tourist tax of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah (around AU$15) payable by every holidaymaker. But well into the initiative, it was reported that most Australian travellers were still not paying the levy, which was created to help manage the high number of visitors to the Indonesian island. The tax aims to generate over $80 million a year for the Bali Provincial Government.
For a family of four, the VoA fees and tourist tax add nearly $300 to a family’s holiday.
But there has been some good news for Bali-bound Australian travellers this year, with tourists visiting the Indonesian island now able to speed through Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport (aka Denpasar) thanks to new automated gates in the international arrival and departure terminals.
In 2023, the province’s authorities began issuing visitors with a good behaviour guide for tourists to curb bad behaviour.
