Bali travel warning for UK tourists with strict new rules now in force

Bali has launched a tourist tax as travellers are set to be charged to enter from Valentine’s Day. British tourists and UK holidaymakers will now need to pay to travel to Bali under strict new rules from the Indonesian island, it has emerged.

Tourists will be charged 150,000 rupiah (£7.60) tax to travel to Bali. Tourists entering from abroad will have to pay the one-time fee electronically prior to or during their visit to Bali. Domestic Indonesian travellers will be exempted from the tax.

Island governor I Wayan Koster said that the tax will be used for the environment, culture and building “better quality infrastructure” to improve the safety and comfort of those who make the journey to Indonesia’s most famous island.

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The ‘Love Bali’ initiative by the Bali Provincial Government states that the new financial support will help the move towards sustainable green tourism on the island. “Efforts and innovations will continue to be made for the maintenance, culture and the natural environment in Bali,” they said.

“There will also continue to be an improvement in the quality of services,” they added. The levy is described “as a form of support, towards the efforts to preserve the nature and culture of Bali”.

It comes as the regional authority continues to make “various progressive efforts and innovations related to improving Bali’s quality of the nature and culture through preservation, conservation and revitalisation.” The proceeds will also go towards improving “the quality of services, safety, and comfort of tourists, by developing land, sea and air infrastructure in an integrated and connected manner”.

The Foreign Office updated its travel advice to Indonesia to reflect the tourist levy, positioning out that a payment of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah per person – approximately £8 – by all international tourists arriving in Bali will be required from February 14.