Bali flags less tourists and foreigners joining queue to gain access to holiday island

Bali’s governor wants to cap tourist numbers and have people join a queue up to a year in advance to gain access to the holiday island.

Bali’s governor wants to put a cap on tourist numbers which could see holiday-makers need to join a queue up to a year in advance to gain entry to the popular island.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster told local reporters last week the idea would support Bali’s goal of moving away from mass tourism, but said quotas had not been discussed in detail.

If the quotas are implemented, he gave an example of foreign tourists needing to get in a queue a year before arrival.

“If there is a quota, then people will have to queue. Those who want to come next year, can sign up from now. That’s the system we want to apply,” he said, according to an English translation from Coconuts Bali.

Foreign tourists may have to join a virtual queue a year in advance to get into Bali if the province’s governor has his way. Picture: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Governor Koster has also previously asked the central Indonesian government to stop Russian and Ukrainian tourists from being allowed to get a visa on arrival, and wants all foreign tourists banned from renting motorbikes.

Indonesian officials have been extremely vocal this year about their frustration with unruly tourists.

The way authorities are dealing with foreigners is changing and Australians have been warned they must be prepared.

This includes knowing the local laws and customs to avoid hefty fines or being kicked out of the country.

Bali’s governor has also requested the government ban tourists renting motorbikes. Picture: Getty Images

Ravindra Singh Shekhawat, who is the general manager for Bali operations at Melbourne-based tour company Intrepid Travel, moved to the island in February last year.

He told news.com.au last month his observations were that only a “very small” percentage of tourists behave unruly but recently it was increasing.

“Recently there has been an increase in tourists not following the local laws and respecting local culture and traditions, including instances of tourists getting into heated arguments with local police for not wearing helmets or breaking traffic laws,” he said.

“Police have responded to this unruly behaviour by increasing their routine checks on the ground, such as driver licence checks and drink and driving checks.”

A “tourist tax” of up to $150 is currently being considered by the Indonesian government to curb bad behaviour and stop Bali being seen as a cheap holiday destination.

Bali Tourism Board chairman Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana previously said the tax would improve the quality of tourists.

“Income from the tourism tax would help fund a range of measures and prevent Bali from becoming known only as a cheap destination,” he said.

“Cheap destinations bring in cheap tourists who tend to cause a lot of problems.”

A tourist tax is being considered to improve the ‘quality’ of visitors. Picture: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, an influential senior Indonesian politician, has also been a big supporter of the tourist tax.

In an Instagram post last month he said he requested the tax be introduced immediately and that Bali focused on “quality tourism” instead of “mass tourism”.

“This incentive will be very useful for financing destination development and tourism promotion, as has been implemented in several countries that have large tourism industries,” he said, according to an English translation.

He added that Bali being cheap had “encouraged many low-income foreign visitors to come to Bali, leading to a rise in unruly behaviour.”