Bali (Indonesia in general) [NOT] to be Visa free for Australians from Jan 2015

[markis10]

As tweeted by Angela:

Angela Saurine ‏@Angela_Saurine 10m10 minutes agoSydney, New South Wales
Australians won't need a visa to visit Bali from January. Fantastic news! That queue can be horrendous @GarudaAustralia #bali

 

[Austman]

re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan 2015

Great news!

I have a trip there in January!

 

[Austman]

re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan 2015

Seems it's Indonesia, not just Bali. According to The Australian:

AUSTRALIAN tourists will get visa-free entry to Indonesia from January under a plan announced by the new Jokowi administration. The $US35 visa-on-arrival requirement now applying to visitors from Australia, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia will be waived to boost inbound tourism from those important markets, said Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Indroyono Soesilo.

 

[markis10]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Seems it's Indonesia, not just Bali. According to The Australian:

Even better, thread title amended to reflect the update. Given its a Nov 6 announcement, it seems to have been under the radar a bit.

 

[drivatruk]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

So Jan 1???

 

[Pushka]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

That visa queue was horrendous. I wonder why the change? That is a great money spinner for Indonesia - we used to estimate the crowd each time and multiply by $25USD!

 

[kpc]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

That visa queue was horrendous. I wonder why the change? That is a great money spinner for Indonesia - we used to estimate the crowd each time and multiply by $25USD!

All the extra tourists coming to Bali (who wouldn't otherwise have come because of VOA) would more than cover the loss of the USD25 VOA fee, I suspect.

 

[clifford]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

That visa queue was horrendous. I wonder why the change? That is a great money spinner for Indonesia - we used to estimate the crowd each time and multiply by $25USD!

I imagine they have just increased the departure tax by the same amount (or more).

And I'll believe it when I see it!

 

[defurax]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

The guy at CGK who runs a business of offering "express" immigration to visitors will be losing a lot of $$$!

 

[Pushka]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

People don't travel to Bali because of a $25 visa.

 

[kpc]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

People don't travel to Bali because of a $25 visa.

See post#3

 

[drivatruk]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

it is actually US $35 at the moment.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

it is actually US $35 at the moment.

It's gone up since my visit then.

Just because a marketing person predicts it will increase something doesn't make it so.

And for an Aussie a $25-35 fee for overseas travel to Bali is nothing in the scheme of travel costs given the savings you get when there.

 

[Pushka]

Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from ...

Visa from 2010 showing $25. We were there in 2013 but the Visa now gets torn in half during immigration.

 

[Pushka]

Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from ...

The cost on this website shows $25USD. Out of date? Bali time perhaps.

 

[Cynicor]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Definitely out of date. Was there last week, USD 35

 

[defurax]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

The VOA increased to 35 USD last July. https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&...FBP4JpEUj81QXNsXA&sig2=UTM6MGexIFs6lrPBukgVsg

 

[Pushka]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

We must have been lucky as we just missed that!

 

[trentusjuventus]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Just because a marketing person predicts it will increase something doesn't make it so.

And for an Aussie a $25-35 fee for overseas travel to Bali is nothing in the scheme of travel costs given the savings you get when there.

You make a good point, I sometimes wonder how they estimate benefits like this. Maybe for a family or group it might just be the saving that they need to make the trip worthwhile, or if you happen to stumble across very cheap fares, it might make a quick/last minute trip easier to justify. Could also attract people to pass through or stop over on the way to somewhere else, or take a side trip out of somewhere like Singapore.

Regardless, this is good news for Australian passport holders!

 

[Timba-Jet]

Re: Bali (as well as Indonesia in general) to be Visa free for Australians from Jan

Woohoo, looking forward to my trip in July next year. Though am surprised this direct revenue is being sacrificed. Hope this is not compensated by another indirect cost.