TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Director General of Immigration, Silmy Karim said that 19,000 foreign travelers pass through Bali's I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport per day. This number, said Silmy, is already above the average foreigner visit during the pandemic, showing that Bali's tourism industry has recovered.

"This is higher when the average during the pandemic was only 17,000. This means that in terms of quantity this is already good," Silmy said in Denpasar on Thursday, July 18.

Now, Silmy said, the Immigration DG seeks to improve the quality of tourists coming to the Island.

"A few months ago we faced a challenge from foreign tourists who do not respect values and commit violations. [We have to prevent] rowdy behavior. Tourists must obey the rules so that there is good harmony between local residents," he said.

No More Visa-free For Non-ASEAN Citizens

One of the steps to improve the quality of foreign tourists coming to Bali, he said, is by revoking the free visit visa (BVK) policy for 159 countries.

The BVK revocation, he said, had already been carried out by the Australian government, and it has been proven effective in improving the quality of tourists coming to the country.

Currently, visa-free entry to Indonesia only apply to citizens of 10 ASEAN members: Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH

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