Indonesia’s resort island of Bali has issued a new set of rules for foreign tourists in a bid to rein in misbehaving visitors, amid a flurry of incidents that have underlined the consequence of unchecked mass tourism to the Hindu-majority destination.
On Wednesday, Bali governor Wayan Koster issued a circular that outlined 12 obligations for international travellers to follow, alongside eight restrictions on their behaviour. These include respect for sacred temples, statues, customs, arts and culture; modest dress in sacred areas and at tourist attractions; politeness; complying with traffic laws; and conducting transactions using Indonesian rupiah.
The don’ts list spans trespassing on sacred land; climbing sacred trees; engaging in behaviour that defiles sacred places – such as taking indecent or nude photos; using single-use plastics; uttering offensive words and acting aggressively towards government officials, members of local communities or fellow tourists; and engaging in work without the proper permits.
“[I ask] all parties to seriously understand, implement and socialise this circular letter to all staff and foreign tourists visiting Bali,” Koster told reporters on Wednesday.
On the same day, Koster, who is a ranking official of the ruling PDI-P party, also gathered all regents and mayors in Bali to follow the order of his party’s matriarch, former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri, who has previously voiced her annoyance at foreign tourists’ misbehaviours in Bali.
“If you can’t [manage foreign tourists], you don’t have to run for the second period [in next year’s elections], that’s all. Don’t just be ambitious but don’t want to do something committed and dedicated,” an angry Koster told his subordinates on Wednesday.
The governor later reiterated his intention to ban foreign and domestic tourists from climbing the island’s 22 holy mountains, an idea that he coined this year but has yet to be implemented, alongside other policies such as banning foreigners from renting motorcycles.
The circular comes amid a flurry of head-shaking headlines involving unruly tourists, with the latest being a Danish woman facing 10 years in jail after exposing herself while riding pillion on a motorbike in Seminyak, a tourist hotspot. A German tourist last week was sent to a mental health institution for nakedly gatecrashing a dance performance at a holy temple, while in April, a Russian woman was deported after posing nude in front of a 700-year-old sacred banyan tree.
On Monday, the Bali police also arrested the Indonesian owner of a car rental business for accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method, making the unnamed 33 year-old the first business owner in the country to be arrested for transacting in a digital currency. In Indonesia, cryptocurrency is only allowed to be traded as an asset, while rupiah remains the only recognised currency for payments.
Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly revealed on Wednesday during a hearing with lawmakers in the House of Representative in Jakarta that 132 foreign tourists had been deported from Indonesia between January-May, adding that he would continue to “deport and blacklist” any unruly visitors. The ministry’s Bali branch deported 194 foreigners last year.
Agung Suryawan Wiryanatha, head of the centre of excellence in tourism at Udayana University in Bali, welcome the circular and urged the island’s authorities to “disseminate them widely in various languages and in the form of leaflets that are easily seen and understood by tourists in both print and electronic media as well as on social media”.
“The Australian embassy has previously issued a similar appeal to Australians visiting Bali,” he said. “But relevant Indonesian government officials must be more assertive and consistent in implementing the rules. Don’t tolerate [unruly tourists] any more, let alone tolerating their bribes.”
He also said he hopes that these recommendations will be codified into local law so violators can be punished.
Azril Azahari, chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Scholars Association, recommended that the guidelines be circulated among international visitors at all ports of arrival before they apply for visas-on-arrival.
“We should also apply these dos and dont’s to all regions of Indonesia, not just Bali,” he said.
Photo: Foreign tourists sit at a beach in Kuta, Bali last month. The Indonesian resort island deported 194 foreigners last year © EPA-EFE.
Source: South China Morning Post.
