Andrew Burrell, Jakarta – Indonesia's $5.7 billion tourism industry, still struggling to recover from the Bali bombings and last year's SARS outbreak, has been hit by a government decision to begin charging foreign visitors a visa fee from next month.
The move means tourists from 20 countries, including Australia, Japan and much of Europe, the biggest sources of foreign tourists, will be charged between $US25 and $US50 ($33 and $66) for a visa upon arrival in Indonesia.
The new policy also cuts the length of a tourist stay from 60 days to 30 days, in a potential blow to the backpacker sector.
Indonesia's tourism industry has run a strong campaign against the introduction of the visa, fearing it will jeopardise the gradual recovery in Bali, where terrorists blew up two nightclubs on October 12, 2002, killing 202 people.
Bali, the jewel of Indonesian tourism, has also been affected by the SARS epidemic that swept much of Asia, and the war in Iraq.
On Friday, Justice Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who has led the push for the new visa, announced after a meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri that the policy would begin on February 1.
Mr Mahendra is a hardline Muslim politician known for his prickly attitude to some foreigners, including Australians. Most recently, he sparked controversy over a television interview in which he said he "hates" the Dutch, Indonesia's former colonial rulers.
Mr Mahendra did not reveal the amount of the visa fee, but a cabinet meeting last month reportedly proposed a $US25 fee, which must be approved by the Finance Minister. The fee could be as high as $US50.
Tourists from nine countries will not need visas because their governments grant similar privileges to Indonesians.
Under the new policy, tourists can buy the 30-day visas only at airports in Jakarta, Denpasar, Medan, Manado, Padang and Surabaya and at several seaports.
The announcement of the plan came on the same day a powerful earthquake hit eastern Bali and its neighbouring tourist island of Lombok, in the latest economic blow to the region.
The quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and had its epicentre in the Lombok Strait, injured dozens of people and caused damage to hundreds of buildings on the two islands. The main tourist areas in southern Bali were not affected.
Five million foreign tourists visited Indonesia in 2002, generating $5.7 billion in much-needed revenue for the economy. Arrivals are expected to have declined by about 12 per cent last year due to terrorism fears, SARS and the Iraq war.