Wisman Who Passed Immediately Payed A Charge When Checked In Uluwatu

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Mauro-Fabio Cilurzo/Pura noble Uluwatu Badung Bali

The Bali Tourism Office (Dispar) started a program to monitor foreign tourist levies in tourist attractions, during its first inspection in Uluwatu, Badung.

A number of foreign tourists who have not paid immediately carry out the process at the location.

"They immediately paid, he immediately used the Love Bali payment system. We guide, sometimes WiFi can, sometimes also blank," said Head of Bali Tourism Office Tjok Bagus Pemayun as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, March 27.

It is known that monitoring at tourist attraction began on Tuesday (26/3). From the records of Dispar Bali in a day around 5 thousand tourists visit Uluwatu with 80 percent of foreign tourists and about 5 percent of them miss the collection payment process.

From an interview with the Head of Dispar Bali with a number of visitors, he found that many of them were not aware of this new policy, which required foreign tourists to pay Rp150 thousand when they entered Bali.

"This monitoring or checking regulation is not only carried out at airports, but also in tourist destinations, accommodation and other places visited by foreign tourists. Not all foreign tourists know that Bali has implemented this foreign tourist levy," he said.

The Bali Provincial Government acknowledged that the socialization to the Indonesian Embassy abroad and the Ambassador of friendly countries in Jakarta was also not enough, so the socialization directly to tourist attractions was deemed necessary.

This socialization is also related to the number of foreign tourists who have not paid the levies, even Balinese Dispar sees only 40 percent of the total visitors who have paid.

It was recorded that until March 18, 2024, the amount of money collected was IDR 32,919,900,000 obtained from 219,466 foreign tourists or an average of only 5,000 per day paid.

During the inaugural inspection in the afternoon, around 30 people from the Bali Dispar joint team with tourism associations, the Tourism PP Pol, Diskominfos, and Bank BPD Bali, checked the entrance to Uluwatu's tourist attraction.

There they saw coupons for payment of levies belonging to visitors to make sure they had paid or not.

When they haven't paid, they direct them to pay directly while explaining the new policies contained in Bali Regional Regulation Number 6 of 2023 concerning Charges for Foreign Tourists to Protect Culture and the Bali Natural Environment and Bali Governor Regulation Number 2 of 2024 concerning Procedures for Paying Charges for Foreign Tourists.

"They welcome this policy, but it must be transparent and its use clear. We have said that later it will be used for environmental conservation and strengthening of Balinese culture," said Tjok Pemayun.