Bali sex ban: Officials say new laws will not apply to foreign tourists

Indonesian officials have issued a plea to foreigners after new laws that make sex outside of marriage criminal.

Indonesian officials say tourists visiting Bali will not be arrested for having sex outside of marriage, as concerns grow among foreign holiday-makers and the impact the laws may have on vital tourism.

The new legislation threatens up to a year in jail for unmarried couples who have sex or six months for those who cohabit.

Businesses have voiced worries that the sweeping overhaul of the criminal code will be detrimental to tourism in Indonesia, which received more than 16 million visitors in 2019.

But Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej on Monday dismissed those concerns, saying foreigners will not be prosecuted.

“I want to emphasise for foreign tourists, please come to Indonesia because you will not be charged with this article,” Mr Hiariej told reporters.

It comes as a News Corp reader survey revealed Bali is in danger of losing its status as an Aussie tourism hotspot because of the country’s new penal code.

As of 9am Monday AEDT, just over 2200 readers had voted in our poll.

While 48 per cent of them said they would probably not go to Bali anyway, 30 per cent said they would “definitely choose another destination” because of the changes to the Indonesian penal code which will criminalise unmarried couples living together.

Eight per cent of respondents said they were unsure and would wait and see how the laws are implemented.

Just 14 per cent of survey respondents said they were unbothered by the laws and would continue to go to Bali.

The survey results seem to contradict predictions that the new sex laws won’t kill off Bali as an Aussie holiday destination completely.

Foreign tourist will not be penalised under the new law, officials say. Picture: AFP

Frequent visitors to the island said the possibility of corruption regarding the laws would prompt them to look elsewhere for their next vacation.

While the recent change to the penal code banning cohabitation before marriage will not come into effect for three years, Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner said the new laws “will not help their tourism industry”.

But a lot depends on what actually happens, he said.

“A lot of Australians will still travel there, but if there are any well publicised incidents where they enforce these things, it will do them a lot of reputational damage,” Mr Turner said.

If there are no incidents, “people will get used to a law in the background that’s not enforced,” he said.

But some long-time tourists say they won’t take chances.

Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar, Bali. The recent passage of a law that bans extramarital sex is expected to severely impact the tourism industry. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne social worker Kieran McGregor, 50, has been to Bali six times over the past 12 years, several times with his same-sex partner, but posted on social media this week that it was now “off the holiday list”.

“My concern is that this might open up corruption,” Mr McGregor said.

“It’s a poorly paid police force there. I’ve heard stories of friends being stopped by police, and a little bit of cash changes hands, and then they’re free to go. I’d be concerned that a housekeeper could report my partner and I, and then the police could come knocking.”

Mr McGregor said he’d be looking at Thailand for his next overseas vacation instead.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Dean Long said destinations like Fiji, Vanuatu and even Queensland could benefit as more travellers reconsider Bali as a place to take their holidays.

The island’s growing Schoolies Week celebrations will also likely cease to exist within three years unless the laws were overturned, Mr Long said.

“There is still a period of time that the Indonesian government can take a review of this, and we’re hoping the right measures are put in place to ensure Bali can maintain its position as one of Australia’s favourite holiday destinations,” he said.

Teen tourists pose during Australian ‘Schoolies’ celebrations in Kuta. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Long said very few Australians went overseas with the intention of breaking the law, but “there are a lot of people in relationships that are socially normal in Australia, and they won’t be able to have that same relationship in Indonesia, so there’ll be an impact on where people spend their leisure dollars,” he said.

While the new laws had not prompted any holiday cancellations yet, both Mr Long and Mr Turner said travel consultants were fielding queries from customers who were confused about what the changes meant.

“We won’t see an effect in the next 12 to 24 months but in the lead-up to [the laws coming in] people will start to review their plans,” Mr Long said.

If that does happen, it would be a historic change for outbound tourism, with Bali’s mix of climate, culture, natural beauty and cheap prices drawing Aussie holiday-makers for generations.

Australian Federation of Travel Agents CEO Dean Long.

Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner. Picture: Tara Croser

In Tony Wheeler’s first Lonely Planet book Across Asia on the Cheap in 1973, Bali marked the first step on the “hippy trail”, and a flight there from Darwin on the now-defunct Merpati Airlines cost $88.

The island’s popularity was immortalised in a Top 20 chart hit in 1984 (Redgum’s I’ve Been To Bali Too), and it continued to grow over the years, despite terror attacks and strict anti-drug laws.

Just before Covid-19, Indonesia eclipsed New Zealand as our number one travel destination. More than 126,000 Aussies visited Indonesia in December 2019 alone, the majority flying to Bali.

Currently, Bali is serviced every week by 48 Jetstar planes, 21 Virgin services and 14 Qantas flights departing Australian airports, while the national carrier also flies from Sydney to Jakarta six days per week.

Data from travel website KAYAK.com.au shows Bali remains the cheapest international travel destination for Australians by a considerable margin.

Originally published as Bali sex ban: Officials say new laws will not apply to foreign tourists