Jakarta – Last week, Indonesia waived visas for 30 more countries, a move lauded by everyone in the travel industry. This brings to 45 the number of countries with visa waivers.

Most significantly, the waivers covered key Asian markets such as China, Japan and South Korea.

AirAsia’s Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “We are extremely pleased with the announcement of Indonesia’s policy to expand the visa exemption scheme, including for China, Japan and South Korea. Our existing extensive connections to China coupled with this new policy will be very beneficial to Indonesia.”

Chairman of the Indonesia Travel Agencies Association, Hasiyanna Ashadi, said, “We look at the tourist visa waiver positively because we have been hoping for that to happen for many, many years.”

In 2014, nine million tourists visited Indonesia generating $10 billion in revenue. This year’s revenue target is $12 billion. Source: WIT