JAKARTA - Indonesia and South Africa signed a tourism cooperation agreement on February 5 in Jakarta, covering everything from marketing to safety standards. The deal follows last year's visa-free travel announcement between the two countries.

Indonesia's Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana signed the seven-area cooperation deal. The areas include sustainable tourism, human resources, marketing, investment, safety standards, and research.

Quoting Indonesia’s state-owned agency Antara, Wardhana said, “Signing this MoU will strengthen bilateral tourism cooperation and allow both countries to navigate a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism future.”

South African Tourism Minister Patricia De Lille arrived in Jakarta after visiting Singapore and Malaysia on a week-long Southeast Asia tour. She's advocating for more direct flights and wants to get more Asians visiting South Africa, which just posted record tourism numbers at 10.5 million visitors in 2025.

De Lille also said Indonesian visitors would be "warmly welcomed" and talked up South Africa's safari and beach tourism.

At the Indonesia-Africa CEO Forum in Johannesburg on November 21, 2025, Indonesia’s Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka announced that Indonesia and South Africa have agreed to a reciprocal visa-free arrangement, a follow-up to talks between Presidents Prabowo and Ramaphosa in October 2025.

Indonesia sits far behind Asia’s mobility leaders in the latest Henley & Partners passport ranking, which puts Singapore back at number one while the U.S. drops to 10th with the index placing Indonesia around 64th with about 74 visa-free or visa-on-arrival destinations.