2024 is set to be the biggest year on record for cruise travel in Bali. The government and private investors are pumping huge funds into developing the island as a leading cruise destination in Southeast Asia. The first of seventy jumbo cruise liners scheduled for 2024 has docked into Bali’s Benoa Harbour. The Norwegian Jewel …
Tourism
On the 14th of February 2024, Bali will officially introduce its new tourism tax. The mandatory levy will see all international arrivals pay IDR 150,000, but many of the finer details are still up for discussion. Initially, the tourism tax was touted to help fund the preservation of Balinese culture, heritage, and landscapes. Following the …
As hundreds of thousands of tourists are making their way home after celebrating Christmas and New Year in Bali, the island’s usual traffic chaos has gone from bad to worse. Provincial authorities are putting emergency measures in place to tackle the problem. The Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi, has confirmed that a temporary shuttle …
The Director General of Immigration for Indonesia is on a mission to elevate the services provided by the department. Director General Silmy Karim wants to establish a world-class immigration service that benefits Indonesian citizens, expats, and tourists. Over the last few months, Karim and the Department of Immigration have announced a series of new services, …
New Year’s celebrations went off with a bang in Bali. With hundreds of thousands of tourists letting loose and parties spreading across beaches, venues, streets, and private homes, a big clean-up operation is underway. Bali’s busiest beaches of Kuta, Legian, and Seminyak welcome tens of thousands of people to the shorelines to watch an incredible …
Officials in Bali have confirmed that clean-up teams are ready and waiting to deal with the inevitable tides of plastic that will start washing up on the island’s most popular beaches in the coming weeks. Every year during late December, January, and February, ocean plastic washes up by the tons. Leaders in Badung Regency have …
Bali is a province with so much to explore. With limited public transport options, many tourists choose to drive themselves around the island. Tragically, over the last 12 months, conditions on the island’s roads have taken a dramatic turn for the worse. The number of recorded collisions on Bali’s road has doubled in the last …
One of Bali’s oldest and most famous hotels is undergoing a rebrand and renovation ahead of its reopening in 2024. The Grand Inna Bali Beach will return in 2024 as Meru Sanur as part of the newly established Special Economic Zone in the coastal resort. The hotel, which sits right on the Sanur Beach front, …
Bali’s Desa Potato Head has received a B-Corp certification, which positions the beach club and hotel amongst some of the world’s most environmentally and socially conscious businesses. The B-Corp movement is seeking to change the way businesses operate to create a better world. Desa Potato Head is proudly one of the world’s most highly regarded …
Indonesia’s Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, calls on airport staff to consistently give top service to Bali Airport passengers. His comments come as I Gusti Ngurah Rai International was listed amongst the world’s worst by a top passenger rights company. Speaking from Jakarta, Minister Uno emphasized the need for all hospitality workers, …
Tourism leaders in Bali are continuing the battle to track down and hold illegal tour guides on the island accountable. Tourism leaders are concerned that if the situation continues, the bad practices will reflect badly on the province’s travel sector. The practice of gacong is proving tricky to get a hold of in Badung Regency …
The authorities in Bali’s Denpasar are cracking down on the use of firecrackers and fireworks in the run-up to New Year’s Eve. Officials are anticipating the use of fireworks over the coming days especially on the big countdown. With dozens of large-scale fireworks displays and New Year’s Eve celebrations in the works for the weekend. …