Indonesia Free Visa, Potential ASEAN Tourists To Borobudur High

Borobudur Temple. (ANTARA)

The potential for tourists from ASEAN countries to visit Borobudur Temple in Magelang Regency, Central Java, is quite high, said General Manager of the Borobudur Unit, PT Taman Wisata Candi Borobudur Prambanan and Ratu Boko (TWC) Jamaludin Mawardi. "Moreover, it is supported by government policies, ASEAN tourists can enter Indonesia visa-free," he said in Magelang, quoted by ANTARA on Sunday, July 2. He explained that tourists can quite have a passport to come to Indonesia within a few days after that they return to their country. "So it is very easy to travel, you don't have to take care of visas," he said. He said if it was connected to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy program that Asian regions including ASEAN remain the target of tourist visits to Indonesia. "Tourist visits to Borobudur from the ASEAN region remain the highest among other regions. The area that is targeted for the market is ASEAN to continue Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and the West Asia region," he said. Jamaludin said that in terms of the number of foreign tourists is indeed the first from ASEAN, both Europe. especially from Western Europe there are Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and France. According to him, tourists from ASEAN countries especially Malaysia and Singapore still dominate tourist visits to Borobudur. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourist visits from Malaysia to Borobudur in 2019 reached 15.0655 people, then Singapore 9.549 people. Tourist visitors from these countries are quite high because there is a direct flight from the country to Yogyakarta. This is a decisive factor," he said.

He hopes that especially later the government will work on the issue of "pilgrim" seriously, especially for countries whose population bases are Buddhists, of course foreign tourist visits to Borobudur will increase. "The government has designated Borobudur Temple as a spiritual destination, especially Buddhists. This will be relevant as long as the door is opened, the market is large in the ASEAN area," he said.