Jakarta. Indonesia's tourism sector could potentially generate up to $25 billion in additional revenue through the implementation of a visa-free entry policy, A senior official said on Wednesday.

The government intends to extend this policy to visitors from 20 countries with the objective of boosting tourist arrivals and driving economic growth via the tourism sector. This policy excludes nine fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who already benefit from similar provisions under regional economic integration.

While Indonesia targets revenue of Rp 200 trillion ($12.9 billion) from the tourism industry in 2024, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said this amount could significantly increase once the visa-free entry policy takes effect.

"We anticipate an additional revenue of $20-25 billion," Sandiaga said during his weekly press conference in Jakarta.

This projection assumes that tourists from eligible countries will spend at least $5,000 each during their stay in Indonesia. However, Sandiaga noted that it may take up to a decade following policy implementation to witness a substantial increase in tourists' spending to reach this level.

The policy primarily targets countries whose tourists tend to spend more time and money in Indonesia.

Among the 20 countries under consideration, 18 have already been earmarked, including Australia, China, India, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Italy, and Spain.

The remaining two slots are set to be allocated to Middle Eastern countries.

In September, the Justice Ministry initiated the implementation of the "golden visa" for international investors, offering stay permits of up to 10 years based on their investment amounts in the country.

Corporations investing a minimum of $2.5 million are granted a five-year stay permit, while a ten-year permit requires a minimum investment of $5 million. For individual investors, the set caps are $350,000 and $700,000, respectively.

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