Bali Tourists To Be Issued With Updated Travel Guidelines By End Of 2024

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The Head of Immigration at Ngurah Rai has confirmed that tourists will soon be issued with do’s and don’ts travel advice booklets upon arrival in the province.

The initiative was launched back in 2023 but was halted after the Tourism Office chose to promote travel guidelines by alternative means.

Suhendra, the Head of Immigration at Ngurah Rai, has spoken to reporters about the upcoming changes to how the Bali Tourism Office and Bali Immigration communicate travel guidelines to tourists.

He said the do’s and don’ts of Bali information cards have been reviewed and updated and will soon be issued to all airport arrivals. 

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Suhendra said, “We designed it to be easy to see foreign tourists, simpler…In the near future, we will launch it with other related tourism agencies.”

The do’s and don’t of Bali was a set of guidelines created under the ex-Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster. The guidelines were created amidst a rise in the number of reports of foreigners behaving badly on the island. 

Over the last 12 months, the Bali Tourism Office and Bali Immigration Service have been on a joint mission to crack down on badly behaved tourists on the island.

Suhendra confirmed that tourism figures are on the rise in Bali in 2024 and that the number of foreigners deported, detained, or refused entry to the province is on the rise too.

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Suhendra confirmed that between January and June 2024, 66 people were deported; there were 89 detentions and 52 deterrences.

The number of foreigners who were refused entry during the same period reached 561 people for reasons including being involved in a criminal case, not having a visa, having a passport validity period of fewer than 6 months, and being on the banned list for the pursuit of Interpol.

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It has been confirmed that Bali Airport is now serving an average of 2.2 million passengers a month.

Speaking to reporters, the General Manager of Bali International Airport, Handy Heryudhitiawan, explained that in July 2024, the total number of passengers was 2,287,949 people across 12,688 flights.

Looking at a breakdown of those figures, 1,342,187 people were international passengers, and 945,762 were domestic travelers. Bali Airport operated 6,381 international flights and 6,307 domestic flights.

Therefore, July was the busiest month in Bali in 2024 so far. However, travel trends predict that December could be the busiest month of the year as over one million additional tourists travel to the island to celebrate Christmas and New Year. 

In terms of the do’s and don’ts for Bali tourists, many of the rules are incredibly straightforward, easy to adhere to, and are simply steps that all culturally respectful tourists are all too happy to honor.

As explained by the national tourism board, Wonderful Indonesia, last month, “Trust us, a little bit of understanding goes a long way in ensuring that your Bali adventure is filled with incredible memories, meaningful connections, and unforgettable experiences.”

Many of the do’s and don’ts of Bali travel relate to temple etiquette. As outlined by ex-Governor Koster in 2023, the most important rules state that “Tourists must respect the holy, sacred nature of Balinese temples and all other religious symbols on the island.”

Rules two and three explain that “Tourists must respect Balinese culture, customs, traditions, and art, in addition to the wisdom of the Balinese people.”

This is followed by “Tourists must dress modestly and respectfully, especially wearing appropriate clothing when visiting holy places, tourist attractions, and public spaces.”

Bali is on a mission to develop more culturally respectful and sustainable tourism. They are seeking to achieve this in a range of ways.

Part of the effort is to strengthen the implementation of exciting policies that state a zero-tolerance approach to cultural disrespect and violations of local laws.

In other ways, leaders are taking a more positive approach by encouraging tourists to visit more culturally abundant destinations in lesser visited areas of the province.