The Tourism and Creative Economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno, has touted the idea that foreigners applying for visas to Indonesia, especially those from China, could one day use apps and platforms such as TikTok.
He has discussed the idea with the Director General of Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, Silmy Karim.
“There can be a tutorial on TikTok regarding the eVoA. If we work together with TikTok, there might be a button that can let you apply for a visa right away. Tiktok uses AI to profile us. Maybe working with such a platform will make it easier to visit,” said Uno.
He also plans to convey the concept to the Chinese Minister at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) meeting which will take place this week.
A number of innovations have been undertaken to achieve the target of foreign tourists, which will number 7.4 million people or double compared to last year, according to Uno.
He went on to say that he has been inspired by the Saudi Arabian government, which had made it easier for travellers to go to the country with a more relaxed immigration policy.
The Crown Prince, who is also the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Bin Salman, has recently continued to make inroads so that foreign tourists are increasingly interested in visiting his country.
“Saudi Arabia is now revolutionary. In the past, it was really difficult to get a visa there. Now using an application, especially if you are travelling with Saudi airlines, you just need to show your boarding pass and go directly through,” he explained.
“We can’t transform that quickly, fortunately, there is a new director general at immigration, who’s super fast, and we have a good relationship from the start. Issues that used to be out of reach can now be discussed in forums that are regularly held, so we routinely review our policy.”