Bali BPD Accommodates Wisman Charges Of IDR 150 Thousand/People Starting February 14, 2024
DENPASAR - The Provincial Government (Pemprov) of Bali appointed PT Bank Pembangunan Daerah (BPD) Bali as a perception bank that houses a collection of foreign tourists (tourists) of IDR 150 thousand per person starting February 14, 2024.
"The levy goes into the regional treasury through the bank we appointed, the regional general cash account bank (RKUD), namely Bank BPD Bali," said Head of the Bali Tourism Office, Cokorda Bagus Pemayun, on the sidelines of the 2023 tourism evaluation to 2024 in Denpasar, reported by ANTARA, Friday, December 29.
He explained that the appointment of the BUMD bank was to accommodate foreign tourist levy funds because the Bali BPD manages the Bali regional treasury. The plan, he continued, was that the first week of January 2024, his party held a simulation of levies on the foreign tourists.
Cokorda explained that later the funds collected would be used to protect Bali's environment, nature and culture as stated in Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 6 of 2023 concerning levies for foreign tourists to protect Bali's culture and natural environment, as the legal basis for the levy.
The birth of the regional regulation was after the issuance of Law Number 15 of 2023 concerning the Bali Provision.
The regional regulation, which was set and promulgated in Bali on August 8, 2023, stated that the amount of levies for foreign tourists was evaluated no later than three years, according to the article on the eight rules.
In the regional regulation, it is stated that the levy has the aim of protecting customs, traditions, cultural arts and local wisdom of the Balinese people.
Then, the breeding and maintenance of culture and the natural environment which is the attraction of tourism in Bali, improving the quality of service and implementing Balinese cultural tourism and becoming a guideline in the implementation and management of levies for foreign tourists.
Meanwhile, the provisions regarding the procedure for payment of levies for foreign tourists are further regulated in Bali Governor Regulation (Pergub) Number 36 of 2023.
In the 9th market of the Bali Gubernatorial Regulation, it is explained that the perception bank facilitates the payment of levies for foreign tourists through the Love Bali system which is integrated with the perception bank.
The levy payment was made non-cash through the Love Bali website (laman) system to fill in foreign tourists data and pay fees.
After that, foreign tourists choose payment methods that will be used such as bank transfers, virtual accounts, QRIS and after successful payments, proof of payment is provided in digital form.
The proof of payment must be scanned after foreign tourists carry out the travel document inspection process.
Meanwhile, the Association of Indonesian Tourism Industries (GIPI) Bali noted that data from the management of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport, PT Angkasa Pura 1, the number of foreign tourist arrivals (tourists) on the Island of the Gods has reached 5.37 million as of December 15, 2023 or slowly recovered to close to 88 percent when compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic reached 6.3 million people.
The origin of foreign tourist countries in Bali is still dominated by Australia by 25 percent, followed by India, China, Britain, the United States, South Korea, France, Singapore, Germany and Malaysia.