Foreigners Want to Climb Borobudur, Have to Pay US$100

TheIndonesia.id - The President Director of the Borobudur Temple, Prambanan, and Ratu Boko (Persero) Tourism Parks, Edy Setijono, explained that a ticket to climb Borobudur Temple is valued at Rp750,000 per person for local tourists, while the price for entering the temple area is still Rp50,000 per person for domestic tourists. For foreigners, the price is US$100 to climb and US$25 to enter the area. 

"The regular ticket is still the same for domestic tourists for IDR 50 thousand, for foreign tourists it's 25 dollars. Tickets for this are valid only until the temple grounds," said Setijono to Antara when contacted from Jakarta, Sunday, June 5, 2022. 

Setijono said the ticket price decision was determined through a coordination meeting with the central government. The new price is applied because there is a quota per day for going to the top of the Borobudur Temple. The government has set a quota of only 1,200 people per day. 

The decision to implement a quota is to protect the Borobudur Temple building or conservation to preserve the historical and cultural wealth of the country. Setijono revealed that the Borobudur Temple building began to experience deterioration and erosion, which was thought to be caused by an excess load due to tourist visits. 

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, tourists who climbed the Borobudur Temple building averaged around 10 thousand people per day. During the pandemic, the management closed access to Borobudur Temple. Tourists' visits were only limited to the courtyard or temple grounds. 

Setijono explained that the price decision was based on the consideration of a quota of 1,200 people per day so that visitors who wanted to climb the temple had to be serious and interested. "What does it mean? People who want to go up to the temple must really be people who have an interest in going up to the temple. If people want to take pictures, they don't have to go up to the temple, just go downstairs. So that's the goal. So people go up to the temple because they have paid expensive, I think he will be serious, he will learn, he will study. Because there is a conservation aspect," he said. 

The management has organized a tour guide above the temple who will explain the history of the temple which was built in 770 AD, and explain the reliefs on each temple wall. Setijono emphasized that the price is not decided due to commercial reasons. The manager provides special access for students who want to learn about Borobudur Temple with a fee of IDR5,000 (or US$0.4) per student to go up to the top of the temple. 

"This is the answer to why it is expensive as if it is commercial. No, it is not commercial, the reasons are different. Therefore for students, it is only Rp5 thousand," said Setijono.

Special access to these students will be given as much as 20 to 25 percent of the total quota of 1,200 people per day.

Limiting Visitors

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, on Saturday announced the decision to limit the number of tourists climbing Borobudur Temple, Central Java, to 1,200 per day.

"We also agreed to limit the tourist quota to 1,200 people per day, at US$100 for foreign tourists and Rp750 thousand for domestic tourists. For students, we only charge them Rp5,000," Pandjaitan posted on his personal Instagram account @luhut.pandjaitan on Saturday.

He said that the step has been carried out solely for the sake of preserving the historical and cultural wealth of the country.

All tourists will also have to use a local tour guide from the Borobudur area or nearby, he added.

"We do this to absorb new jobs while growing a sense of belonging in this region so that a sense of responsibility for the historical sites can continue to thrive in the future's younger generation," Pandjaitan said.

The government is also working with several parties to develop the new concept of Borobudur Temple as an international cultural heritage conservation laboratory, he informed. He also reaffirmed the synergy between conservation and tourism parties through the single authority agency is meant to enhance the quality of Borobudur Temple as a tourist destination.

Furthermore, Pandjaitan assured that the principles of blue, green, and circular economy have begun to be implemented under President Joko Widodo’s directives. Starting Saturday (June 4, 2022), a trial of electric shuttle buses for tourism vehicles has been launched, he said. The electric shuttle buses will travel the Borobudur-Malioboro-Prambanan route, he informed.