The Head of the Bali Tourism Office wants to find new ways to help prevent tourists from dodging the mandatory Bali Tourism Tax Levy.
Introduced back in February this year, most recent figures suggest that upwards of 60% of all international arrivals have been failing to pay their way.
Over the last few months, leaders have discussed all manner of ways to encourage tourists to pay their fees, ranging from setting up more places to pay to threatening prison sentences for those found to have not been paying their way.
The Head of the Bali Tourism Office, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, has said that the Bali Provincial Government is already reviewing the amount of funds generated by the fee.
The IDR 150,000 Bali Tourism Tax Levy has generated IDR 264 billion in the eight months since the launch, though with only 40% of tourists paying the fee, looking to 2025, the Bali Tourism Office has given conservative figures for the predicted income, with a target of generating just IDR 250 billion.
Pemayun told reporters that setting the 2025 revenue target at lower than the current income generated was not pessimistic but realistic based on current payment trends and the resources available to the Tourism Office to keep up with tourists failing to pay their fees.
Pemayun told reporters, “This is a new program; the figure looks at the situation and the conditions of everything, so if we want everything to run well, improvements are needed first.”
Pemyuan and his teams are working on new solutions to the problem, including the introduction of auto scanners for the QR-code vouchers received by tourists once they have paid their dues.
Pemayun explained, “Try having an auto scanner gate tool; maybe we can optimize it again; the governor sets the figure (of IDR 250 billion) because this program is new, a regional program, not a national program, if it’s national, then it’s easy, like the visa on arrival and airport tax.”
It has already been confirmed by leaders in the national government that the autogates currently installed at Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport could not also serve as a scanner for Bali Tourism Tax Levy QR-codes since the technology used by the autogates is focused on border security and immigration checking programs.
An auto scanner for the Bali Tourism Tax Lev would have to be an additional step in the arrivals process.
Pemayun is not worried about the conservative prediction for the Bali Tourism Tax Levy income for the end of 2024 and into 2025, but he feels that setting a low bar is the key to slow and steady success in this instance.
He told reporters that more needs to be done to improve the payment portals for international payments, as this, too, is a key sticking point for the system at present.
He added, “If you look at the development of the situation, I think IDR 250 billion can be exceeded, but this is not a small problem, this is a new program that needs everything to be perfected.”
The ways in which the first round of funds generated by the Bali Tourism Tax Levy are to be used have not yet been made public.
The policy was introduced to help fund nature and culture conservation, improve tourism services, and level up infrastructure across Bali.
Acting Governor Sang Made Mahendra Jaya has also spoken of investing over 70% of the first round of tax revenue in tackling Bali’s waste management problems. No detailed plan for how the funds will be spent has been published.
Tourists should keep a copy of their QR-code voucher on them while traveling around Bali.
The Bali Tourism Office has been conducting regular spot checks of the tax vouchers outside top attractions, including the likes of Tanah Lot Temple, Pura Besakih, Uluwatu Temple, and Gunung Kwai outside of Ubud.