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Other destinations, including Venice and Barcelona, have seen mixed results from raising tourism taxes.
ADVERTISEMENTBeach holidays in Bali might get more expensive if a proposed tourism tax goes into effect.Grappling with the pitfalls of overtourism, Balinese officials have floated a daily tourist tax similar to the $100 (€95) Sustainable Development Fee that Bhutan charges most international visitors.Wayan Puspa Negara, head of the Bali Marginal Tourism Actors Alliance and a lawmaker in Bali’s Badung regency, told the South China Morning Post this week that he envisions the island “selecting” tourists just like Bhutan. The Himalayan hermit kingdom restricts tourist numbers to 400,000 people a year and in the past has charged as much as $250 (€240) per day to visit. “They select tourists from a spending perspective,” he said. “It’s the same as when [Indonesians] go to the US, Europe or Britain.”Bali confronts the impact of mass tourismThe “island of the gods” is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations. But it has also been plagued by a rash of ill-behaved tourists lured by blissful beaches, delicious food, rich culture, cheap accommodation and visions of self-indulgence.Although tourism has transformed Bali, accounting for more than 60 per cent of the island’s economy in 2019, residents today have a love-hate relationship with it. Many have grown upset with the choked traffic, unchecked development and unruly visitors.In 2023, one Russian influencer was deported from Indonesia after posing naked on a sacred tree. Dozens of others have been sent packing for working illegally on tourist visas. Meanwhile, reports of reckless driving, altercations with authorities and disrespect for local customs have fuelled calls for stricter regulations across the board.Can a tourism tax curb bad behaviour?As frustration grows, authorities are looking for ways to balance Bali’s booming tourism industry with the well-being of locals and the land itself.In 2023, Bali consideredbanning motorbike rentals to tourists to reduce traffic accidents. Last year, local officials pressed pause on theconstruction of new hotels, villas and nightclubs on parts of the island inundated with development. The Bali Tourism Board also ran an ad campaign urging travellers to behave respectfully.Raising the tourism tax is now another option on the table. Bali’s governor, Wayan Koster, first floated the idea of a Bhutan-style approach in 2023. Last February, the island introduced a one-time entry fee of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah (€9) to fund conservation efforts. Now officials are reconsidering Koster’s initial suggestion of a steeper charge to regulate tourism and attract higher-spending visitors.Tourism taxes: A global trend?Tourism taxes can take various forms, from entry fees to per-night accommodation charges or daily levies on foreign visitors. They also serve different purposes.Edinburgh recently announced plans for a fee to be spent on infrastructure, housing, destination management and cultural initiatives. Meanwhile, Italy has considered raising some of its daily fees to combat overtourism, with the country’s tourism minister, Daniela Santanchè, arguing that such fees encourage more responsible travel.But tourism taxes have not been a salve for busy destinations. Barcelona has a famously contentious relationship with tourism, something taxes have done little to alleviate. Last summer, Barcelona residents protested mass tourism and short-term rentals such as Airbnb, spraying some travellers with water while shouting “go home.”In Southeast Asia, Bali is not the only travel hub experimenting with tourism taxes, either. Thailand, which welcomes around 40 million travellers each year, plans to revive a shelved 300-baht (€8.50) fee for all arrivals before the end of 2025. How that fee will be collected is still unknown, although Sorawong Thienthong, Thailand’s tourism and sports minister, said it will likely be part of the country’s proposed digital arrival card.ADVERTISEMENT“If collection is complicated, it will be inconvenient. Our aim is to make the process as smooth as possible,” he said at a press conference this week.With European destinations from Wales to Venice also debating the merits of tourism levies, Bali’s proposal fits into a broader global conversation about how to make travel more sustainable. Whether higher costs will deter visitors – or simply shift travel patterns – remains to be seen.
