Tourist-dependent Bali will impose a $10 tax on travellers entering the Indonesian resort Haven from next year onwards in order to preserve its environment and culture, officials said Wednesday. The fee will have to be paid electronically.
While domestic Indonesian tourists would be spared, foreign tourists entering the island from abroad or from other parts of the country would need to pay the fee, said Governor I Wayan Koster, adding the payment “applies only one time during their visit to Bali.”
As the ‘Island of Gods’ started recovering from the struggles brought by COVID, it welcomed over two million tourists last year, according to official figures. When asked if the new tax would bring a drop in tourist numbers, Koster said authorities did not believe so.
The collected taxes would be used for the environment and culture and building better quality infrastructure in order to make potential tourists’ Bali trips more comfortable and safe, the governor told reporters.
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In recent days, Bali has been intensely cracking down on misbehaving tourists after a series of controversies stemming from acts of disrespect to the predominantly Hindu island’s culture. A Danish woman was deported last month after being caught flashing to the public.
April saw a Russian woman getting booted out of the tourist hotspot for uploading a nude photo of herself near a sacred tree. After being pressed by the immigration office, the local government in June published a guide for people wishing to visit Bali.
