However, he claims the rules remain unclear for foreign creators who are not paid by local businesses.
Martin said he finances his own content and earns income only through advertising automatically served by Google on YouTube.
“We actually support these businesses financially by buying their food, but not only that, by promoting them to millions of people online who will in turn go and spend more money at their restaurant without ever having charged anybody in Indonesia for anything,” he said.
“(But) I think that if you want to work with a local business (and) you’re benefiting as a foreign influencer, absolutely then I think you should be on the correct visa.”
Martin, who has more than 280,000 followers on Instagram, said content creator visa rules should distinguish between large commercial productions and independent creators.
“I do agree that large productions or very commercial style operations should probably be getting (the) proper visa, but that is a smaller percentage of YouTubers. A lot of them are much smaller or lower production value,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this blanket rule, though, applies to me and lots of other people who want to come to Indonesia.”
Martin believes that the extra paperwork could potentially deter independent creators from choosing Indonesia.
“When you’re just coming there to produce content and you’re spending your own money … and you have to deal with agencies and paperwork and you only get a single entry, I think (that’s) a lot more of a hassle that might make some people rethink whether they’re going to pick Indonesia as their destination,” he said.
WHAT LOCAL CONTENT CREATORS SAY
Putu Reza, a Bali-based content creator, acknowledged competition between foreign and local creators, saying some businesses work with foreign creators to reach international tourists.
However, the Indonesian said the playing field becomes uneven when foreigners undertake commercial work using visas that do not permit it.
Putu hoped consistent immigration enforcement would create fairer competition and encourage more businesses to work with local creators like himself.
“Local creators generally support fair competition rather than oppose the presence of foreign creators … as long as everyone complies with the applicable rules,” he told CNA.
Putu – who has more than 96,000 Instagram followers and also works as a tour guide – acknowledged that more businesses are recognising the value of local creators because “we have a deeper understanding of Bali’s stories, culture and context”.
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