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THE INDONESIAN Ministry of Tourism stated that the Visa-Free Visits (BVK) policy is an important instrument for improving Indonesia’s tourism competitiveness, with the potential to drive an increase in foreign tourist arrivals of up to 32.4%.
In a press release received in Jakarta on Wednesday (06/240, 2026, the Ministry of Tourism explained that Indonesia has extensive experience implementing the BVK policy in 2016, granting visa-free facilities to 169 countries.
Based on a study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) in collaboration with Oxford Economics, this policy contributed to a 24% increase in foreign tourist demand and supported the creation of approximately 400,000 jobs.
The Ministry of Tourism stated that after refining the calculations using actual foreign tourist arrivals in 2018, the impact of the BVK policy on increasing tourist demand is estimated to reach 32.4%.
“This figure shows that travel facilitation policies have a strong correlation with the growth of tourist arrivals,” the Ministry of Tourism stated.
According to the Ministry, the Visa-Free Travel Policy (BVK) is not solely a visa policy, but rather part of an effort to strengthen Indonesia’s accessibility, ease of travel, and attractiveness as an international tourist destination.
Ease of entry is considered a factor influencing tourists’ decisions when choosing a destination, especially when competing countries in the region continue to strengthen their travel facilitation policies.
In addition to increasing tourist visits, the visa-free policy also has the potential to encourage tourist spending, create jobs, and strengthen the local economy.
A WTTC study showed that the median increase in tourist arrivals from the visa-free policy reached 16.6% per year, higher than the 8.1% increase recorded by the new visa policy.
The Ministry of Tourism also assessed that Indonesia’s visa policy needs to be further strengthened to be more competitive compared to other countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Compared with ASEAN countries, the number of countries granted visa-free access to Indonesia is currently more limited than those of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Ministry of Tourism emphasized that visa policies must still be carefully formulated, taking into account aspects of security, reciprocity, and national interests. However, Indonesia also needs to maintain its competitiveness as a global tourism destination.
A study by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) also shows that simplifying or eliminating entry requirements can increase international tourist arrivals by 7.2% to 27%.
Therefore, the Ministry of Tourism hopes that synergy across ministries and institutions can be strengthened to find the best formulation for the BVK policy that can safeguard national interests while increasing the competitiveness of Indonesian tourism. [traveltext.id]
