The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism announced earlier this month that it would be launching a Clean Tourism Movement to help protect the natural landscapes surrounding some of the country’s most popular tourism destinations.
The pilot program is now underway, and activities will kick off in Bali over the weekend.
The Clean Tourism Movement is designed to help improve the quality of tourism destinations around Indonesia and boost the ‘attractiveness’ of domestic destinations to tourists.
The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Ni Luh Puspa, told reporters during a beach clean-up mission at Kedonganan Beach in Bali that the movement will help increase public awareness about protecting the environment.
The Deputy Tourism Minister shared, “This movement will later form a clean waste ecosystem and public awareness of maintaining cleanliness.”
The eight destinations involved in the pilot project of the Indonesia Clean Tourism Movement are Bali, Mandalika, Borobudur, Labuan Bajo, Likupang, Lake Toba, Jakarta, and the Riau Islands.
Ni Luh Puspa added “We are focusing there first, if it is successful this year we can work on it, continue and add other locations.” There are two key areas of focus within the Clean Tourism Movement: the first is trash, and the second is the cleanliness of public facilities such as bathrooms.
New data shows that Indonesian tourism destinations are ranking 86th for health and hygiene out of 114 countries globally. The data comes from the Tourism and Travel Development Index, where overall Indonesia has improved in the rankings overall in the 2024 assessment, moving from 32nd place to 22nd.
Ni Luh Puspa explained, “That’s why we have the initiative of the clean tourism movement, which is to raise the pillars of health and hygiene.”
The Deputy Tourism Minister praised many of Bali’s top attractions for their commitment to offering top-quality health and hygiene protocols for tourists.
She noted, “Monkey Forest and Taro Village have a good waste management system, so we can imitate it in other areas, and then we can intervene or help improve management.”
During the beach clean-up operation at Kedonganan Beach, Ni Luh Puspa was joined by other top government officials.
The Minister for Environment, Hanif Faisal Nurofiq, the Deputy Minister for Environment, Diaz Hendropriyono, and the Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, all joined the community clean-up mission after yet more tides of plastic waste have been deposited on the popular vacation beach.
Indonesian Minister for Environment Hanif Faisal Nurofiq gave assurances to the media that the government is working to implement more support to tackle marine waste nationwide.
Minster Nurofiq shared, “A team in Bali has been appointed by the Coordinating Minister for Food. We already have a clear team that will work every day with the support of everything we need to handle waste, especially marine waste in Bali.”
Nurofiq added, “Bali is the face of Indonesia. We do not hesitate to take any steps to seriously improve waste management in Bali.”
The tides of plastic waste that are arriving on the beaches of Bali’s central south are a seasonal pheromone that appears to be worsening in its impact every year. The worst affected beaches include Kedonganan Beach, Jimbaran Beach, Kuta Beach, and Legian Beach, though Seminyak and Canggu are known to have been impacted too.
For tourists visiting Bali at any point during the remainder of the rainy season, there are ways to avoid the tides of plastic waste.
Beaches lying on the eastern, western, and northern coasts of Bali are typically unaffected by these issues. For example, beaches like Candidasa Beach in Karangasem Regency, as well as Amed and Tulamben Beaches in East Bali, are seldom impacted by marine debris and are generally crowd-free throughout the year.
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