Another country popular with tourists plans to tax all incoming tourists. We are talking about Indonesia: as reported by the Jakarta Post, the “paradise island” of Bali will introduce a tax on foreign tourists for 150,000 rupiahs ($10 or a little more than UAH 365 at the current exchange rate) from next year. The goal is to preserve the island’s culture, officials said.
The payment of the fee for foreign tourists will be made only once during their visit to Bali,” Governor I Wayan Koster told local lawmakers. He also added that the fee must be paid electronically and will apply to foreign tourists entering Bali from abroad or from other parts of Indonesia.
At the same time, the island’s authorities believe that such an amount will not scare away tourists: the authorities do not believe that the statistical numbers will drop even a little after the introduction of the tax. As for the specific use of funds, as Mr. Koster stated, “This is not a problem.” “We will use the tax to preserve the environment and culture, as well as build better infrastructure, so the trip to Bali will be more comfortable and safer,” the governor of the “paradise island” assured.