The Indonesian Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, has confirmed that plans are underway to construct a new toll road on the island.
The plan is to connect the busy tourism resorts of South Bali to the northern regions of the island. He says the Central Government has given its blessing for the project.
Minister Uno and fellow tourism stakeholders in Bali have long been talking about the need to improve connectivity between South Bali and the resorts of the north.
Much of Bali’s booming tourism sector is highly concentrated in Badung Regency, which is the administrative region home to top tourism resorts like Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Canggu, Uluwatu, and Nusa Dua.
As Minister Uno and his teams want to help avoid over-tourism in the south and promote more culturally respectful and sustainable tourism in the north, west, and east of the island.
Yet, one big issue has kept being brought to the table: connectivity.
Connectivity is one of the biggest barriers to tourists accessing resorts like Lovina Beach and Pemuteran in Bali’s Buleleng Regency.
While much of south Bali is well connected and tourists have plenty of access to taxis and private drivers, transportation services in North Bali can be harder to come by. Notably, the road network is much less developed than in the south.
Minister Uno told reporters, “North Bali has difficulty attracting tourists because of accessibility. The accessibility in question is road access from South Bali, Denpasar, Badung, and surrounding areas to the north.”
The most viable solution to this, he feels, is to develop a toll road running through the center of the island, connecting the resorts of the central south to the central north.
Minister Uno confirmed that the central government has already given the go-ahead to the project proposal and that the contract for the toll road will go up for tender in 2025.
Minister Uno explained, “The toll road also connects to the re-tendering process of the Gilimanuk-Mengwi toll road. If there is this new toll road, hopefully, it will take around 90 minutes to reach North Bali.”
The Tourism Minister also touched on the need to come to a final decision and commitment regarding North Bali International Airport.
This is a project he feels will help promote a more even spread of tourism development across the island. The incoming President, Prabowo Subianto, gave assurances during his election campaign that he would see the project finally get underway.
Minister Uno added, “I feel that the constraints of distance and travel time are the most vital issues. We must take [the same] side in developing North Bali because this is an area full of potential.”
In a press interview in August, Minister Uno explained why international tourists, in particular, are yet to explore North Bali in droves.
He said, “One of the reasons for going to Buleleng is accessibility, in addition to the long distance and poor infrastructure. This affects it, especially since their visit is short. Of course, they will choose a place close to the airport, namely South Bali.”
In a bid to help get more domestic and international tourists to the region, Minister Uno and the national tourism board, Wonderful Indonesia, will be partnering with local tour providers to create travel packages connecting East Java and Northwest Bali.
He confirmed that within the next month, a new tour package will be launched to showcase the very best travel experiences in the area.
The tour is set to visit Watudodol and Bangsering in East Java and Pemuteran and Lovina in North and West Bali.
The tours will include fast boat services between each region and encourage more domestic tourists to start their Bali adventures from Banyuwangi Airpot in East Java, just across the Bali Strait.
The top destinations in North and Northwest Bali include Lovina Beach, famous for its resident pod of spinner dolphins, Pemuteran, known for its coral reefs, mangrove restoration projects, and cultural villages, and of course, West Bali National Park.
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Mr Bear Snr
Monday 9th of September 2024
It currently takes 1 hr on the bike from Legian to the Mengwi end of the proposed toll road. It used to take 30mins,tops!
Shorty
Thursday 5th of September 2024
Why is everyone looking at this through tourism glasses?
There's 100s, maybe 1000s of businesses, workers and commuters that will get benefit. Be it travelling completely, or part way.
I'd wager this traffic will be greater than that generated for tourism.
But a word of caution. Mengwi/Kapal would seem to be the logical southern entreport or maybe back further on the proposed Gilimanuk tollway.
Unless there's a freeway/tollway from Mengwi to say the start of the Ida Bagus freeway there'll be the mother of all traffic jams.
Danilo Gasbarro
Thursday 5th of September 2024
If tourist want to enjoy Bali, they can go trough small roads , like we did many times. It s a real pity that all these "upgraded" are getting done, as Bali a special magical place and I would love to see Bali always natural and original. I hope for the best of Bali and for the amazing people that make Bali the magical place that it is .
Steve b
Thursday 5th of September 2024
Lovina Beach or area is not a resort a resort is a complex or gated place like the 5star nusa dua for the toffs. Lovina is a little seaside sleepyish town that's what's good with it and most tourists wouldn't stay for more than a couple night before they will be bored shiteless and alot stay for 1 night only passing through you probly get more domestic holiday makers passing through, mind you if your a bit older and layed back they normaly stay longer but keep that a secret as there's only so many times you can look dolphins a waterfall or hot springs I say keep going to Java it's only 20 minutes across the water from gillimanuk and cheap but come up from dps the western coastal route no stopping until gillimanuk ferry to java
J West
Wednesday 4th of September 2024
‘The Russians are Coming. The Russians are coming’. An endless supply of quality tourists. Oh, they’re here.
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