Australian tourist visas in high demand in Indonesia
December 5th, 2007
JAKARTA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Indonesians planning to travel to Australia for holidays over the next few months should lodge their visa applications as soon as possible due to peaking demand, the Australian Embassy said here on Tuesday.
Australia processed nearly 60,000 visitor visas for Indonesians planning a holiday or short stay in the country last year, a 12 percent increase on the previous year.
”Going by previous experience, November and December are particularly busy - our tourist applications often double at this time,” First Secretary at the Australian Embassy, Leanne Blackley, was quoted by the national Antara news agency as saying.
”We anticipate Australia will again be a popular holiday destination for Indonesians over the Christmas and New Year period. We are therefore encouraging people to plan ahead and lodge their visa applications as soon as possible,” Blackley added.
”If Indonesian visitors lodged visa applications now, we can process most in five working days or less. When our applications double in the weeks ahead, these visas may take longer,” Blackley said.
She said she knew from the airlines that people were making holiday bookings already — and in some cases they were scheduling additional flights to meet the demand.
Blackley pointed out that the Embassy was issuing more clients with a 12-month multiple entry visa, so they were able to travel as often as they like in the 12 months after the visa is issued.
”So there is every reason to apply now, rather than waiting until the final days before traveling to Australia,” she said, adding that the vast majority (96 percent) of visa applications lodged in Indonesia were approved last year.
| Editor: Song Shutao |
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
Entry Filed under: World Tourism News
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