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Tourism experts in Bali are calling for the establishment of a Cultural Tourism Honorary Council to oversee the development of sustainable and culturally respectful tourism across the island.
The criticism comes as many leaders and residents feel there has been a shift in how cultural respect and preservation is prioritized in tourism development.
Tourism expert I Made Surasa Jaya spoke to reporters about ways Bali can establish more cultural respect in the tourism sector.
“What Bali really and urgently needs is a Culture and Tourism Honorary Council or some other name whose main task is to preserve cultural values and oversee more ethical industry practices and publications and promotions that are more respectful of Balinese culture,” he said.
This Cultural Tourism Honorary Committee will be made up of government officials at all levels and local residents, and will meet regularly to discuss ways to preserve cultural values and issues facing the wider community, and will oversee the implementation of the committee’s recommendations.
But Jaya said he believed such committees should operate under the legal umbrella of states and be funded by the central government.
He said the model could potentially be replicated in provinces across Indonesia, noting that it is simply an enhancement of a system already in place in many tourist villages on the island of Bali.
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While many support Jaya’s call for the establishment of an Honorary Culture and Tourism Commission, others believe the solution is simpler.
Wayang Puspa Negara, chairman of the Bali Area Tourism Business Association, said stricter law enforcement, with a particular focus on spatial planning and tougher sanctions against tourists who violate the law on tourism development, was the way forward.
In recent months, discussions have intensified about how to create a tourism model for Bali that is both sustainable and culturally respectful.
With rapid development across the island in the post-pandemic era and an increase in bad behaviour, leaders and communities are hoping for real change.
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Bali Tourism Director General Tuk Bagus Pemayun and the acting governor of Bali confirmed that an investigation and review of the newly introduced Bali Tourism Tax is underway.
The policy, introduced in February this year, requires all tourists and holidaymakers to pay a contribution of 150,000 rupiah to help protect the island’s culture and nature and support infrastructure development, but data shows that more than 60 percent of foreigners do not pay the tax.
Leaders are now considering whether increasing the tax to 800,000 rupiah (US$50) per person is the right way to attract more “quality tourists” or whether to introduce legal sanctions against those found to be evading the fee.
“I am a Muslim physician,” Bali’s acting governor, San Made Mahendra Jaya, told reporters this week. [tourists] Especially now, there are many unruly tourists who are not only subject to foreign tourist fee sanctions but also to sanctions for violating order, so if there are people who behave badly, they should be punished.”
Leaders in Bali and across the country are beginning to speak with real anxiety about the situation on the island.
Political, Legal and Security Ministry spokesman Andriy Wibowo spoke at a meeting of the Orderly Indonesia Movement on Wednesday about the “criminal pathology” faced by some foreigners in Bali.
“This pathology is a cause for concern and local authorities in particular need to monitor, identify and enforce the law when someone is breaking the law,” he said.
“We want to ensure that this does not become a pathology in the future that is expanded by foreign criminal organisations and that it becomes difficult for us to control the developing situation ourselves,” he added.
Not all leaders are so fearful of the negative influence of Bali’s small foreign population.
Last month, Denpasar’s mayor called on citizens to celebrate the everyday contributions of tourists and expats to the island.
