Bali’s Governor, Wayan Koster told the Bali DPRD Plenary Meeting that foreign tourist arrivals to Bali have actually increased after the visa-free revocation for 159 countries, dismissing reports that arrival numbers had decreased, according to reporting from Nusa Bali.
The Governor explained from June 1-7 2023 the number of foreign tourists arriving in Bali averaged 16,246-people per day, and after the visa-free regulations for 159 countries were revoked on June 7, 2023, foreign tourist arrivals for the June 8-22 period actually increased by 4-percent every day.
Nusa Bali say that the Governor also believes the issue of rabies will not affect foreign tourist visits to Bali because the central government is currently prioritizing the handling of rabies and the Bali Provincial Government (Pemprov) through the Agriculture and Food Security Service and the Health Service have also made collaborative efforts to control rabies on the Island.
“So foreign tourists coming to Bali have continued to increase, and the impact on Bali’s economy has been seen, so far there have been no things that have disturbed tourists to Bali. Even until August, Bali was fully booked,” said Governor Koster. Previously, Deputy Chairperson of PHRI Bali, IGN Rai Suryawijaya, said he fully supported Menkumham Yosanna Laoly’s move to revoke the visa-free visit.
This was done in order to regulate the arrival of tourists to Indonesia, not just to Bali. Tourist arrivals will be patterned and well-organized, which will automatically become part of efforts to realize quality tourism, report Nusa Bali.
Suryawijaya, said that he fully supports the Governor’s policy. “This is in line with the direction of Bali’s tourism policy, according to the direction of the Governor of Bali in managing Bali tourism in the future during the New Era of Bali, namely building culture-based, quality and dignified tourism,” he said.
He said the revocation of the visa-free visit did not necessarily mean that tourists from the 159 countries could not come to visit Bali. Tourist visits are now directed to get the VoA or e-VoA, as well as certain visas that can be obtained through the Indonesian Embassy. Currently the government has given VoA to 94-countries, up from only 23-countries previously.
Source: Nusa Bali
Image by Cassie Gallegos on Unsplash
