Planning a trip to Bali? Be ready to pay $10 as tourist tax

When it comes to planning a trip abroad, we, Indians prefer Bali. Be it the multitude of temples or the diverse culture or the splendid nature, Bali strikes a deeper chord with us and it is the same with international travellers. With great power comes great responsibilities and so does the problems. Given the increasing number of inbound travellers, Bali is under immense pressure.

Around 3,800 tonnes of plastic waste is generated in Bali every day and sadly only 60% end up in the landfills. In a way to tackle the rising plastics problem, Bali banned the sale of single-use plastics which includes styrofoam cups, plastic bags, and straws. That was a month back and the Bali government has taken things a step further. Tourists will soon be levied a tourist tax of $10 which will be put to use to preserve the environment and the culture.

The bylaw on the tourist tax which was in discussion since December was recently released by the Bali administration
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“This will give us better fiscal space to support the development of Bali.” – Bali Governor Wayan Koster was quoted saying.

“Most foreigners come to Bali for a holiday, local tourists only come to visit their family, have meetings or for their institution’s events,” the Governor added implying the still under discussion stage of the tourist tax.

While the implementation of the new tourist tax is yet to be finalized, the new tax is believed to be levied along with the airplane tickets or they can be collected from the special counters in the airports. Will this new tourist tax affect the inflow of tourists to Bali? We hope not.

Incidentally, Japan only recently introduced something called Sayonara tax by which the tourists have to pay 1,000 yen.