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Indonesia offers visa on arrival for Middle East tourists

12 May 2007, JAKARTA - Indonesia's tourist industry is experiencing a boom as the nation has the highest number of foreign arrivals since 2001. This year around six million tourists are expected to visit the country. Thamrin Bachri, director-general of tourism at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that the government is focusing on visitors from the Middle East as well. 60.000 tourists from that region visited Indonesia last year, while this number is expected to grow to 100.000 this year and to 150.000 in 2008.

To ease traveling for those coming from the Middle East, the government has introduced visa-on-arrival for tourists from Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. The visa costs 25 US dollar for 30 days and can not be extended. With a vast majority of Indonesians being Muslim, visitors from the Arab world can feel at home since most hotels are equipped with special rooms for prayer and food that has the standards that Muslims require.

Travelers to Indonesia, especially fans of soccer, can witness AFC, which is co-hosted by four nations; Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The Arab world is represented by Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The games will take place in the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta from July 7 to 29. This stadium has been renovated and is now ready to receive many visitors.