Visa Rates For Short Tourist Visits To Riau Islands Drop To IDR 250 Thousand

JAKARTA - The Riau Islands Province Tourism Office (Kepri) said that the central government had lowered the short visit visa rate or seven days from IDR 500 thousand to IDR 250 thousand for foreign tourists visiting the border area.

Head of the Marketing Development Division of the Riau Islands Dispar, Afitri Susanti, stated that the policy will come into effect as of October 7, 2024, as well as being a breath of fresh air for the tourism world in the area.

"The day after this policy was implemented, thousands of foreign tourists from Singapore entered the Riau Islands," said Afitri, in Tanjungpinang, Saturday.

He also hopes that in the future the visa for visits or Visa on Arrival (VoA) for foreign tourists to Riau Islands can be free by the central government through the authorities, because the policy is believed to be able to boost the number of foreign tourists arrivals by 2025.

In addition, he said, a number of strategic steps have been prepared by the Riau Islands Dispar to increase foreign tourists' visits this year, ranging from increasing the implementation of international standard events to improving the quality of tourist destinations in Riau Islands.

Afitri gave an example that the Riau Islands Dispar will collaborate with the Tanjungpinang City Government to hold the Dragon Boat Race 2025 event involving other countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore.

"Hopefully this event can trigger foreign tourists to come to Riau Islands, especially from Malaysia and Singapore," he also said.

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist visits to Riau Islands in 2024 until November reached 1.47 million people, which were dominated by foreign tourists from neighboring countries, namely Singapore and Malaysia.

This figure has reached the target of 1.4 million foreign tourists visiting in 2024 as regulated in the Riau Islands Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD) 2021-2026.