Tourists Urged To Consume Alcohol Responsibly In Bali 

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Following a rise in reports of foreigners behaving badly in Bali, and as the high season gets underway, the Indonesian Minster for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiaga Uno, is calling on both alcohol vendors and tourists to act with great responsibility. 

Minister Uno’s comments come as an investigation remains underway into a British man who is believed to have stolen a truck in the Kerobokan area and driven it to Bali Airport, smashing the barriers at the Mandara Toll Road in the process.

While footage of the man had emerged online as he is in a conversation with a police officer after the event shows that he says something ‘went’ in his head before he made the decision to take over the vehicle, he did also note that he had consumed a small amount of alcohol on the day of the event.

While he claims it was not the alcohol that triggered his behavior, rather alluding to a mental health crisis, Ministers have taken the opportunity to talk about tourists’ alcohol intake in Bali.

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Speaking from Badung Regency in Bali this week, Minister Uno told reporters, “Those who provide drinks have a duty to tell them [tourists] to sit down first, don’t continue drinking, don’t end up losing consciousness, because losing consciousness can make people do anything.”

Minister Uno said that many of Bali’s best known and well regarded tourism destinations sell alcoholic drinks and that specialist training was required before they were able to do so. He is calling on more business owners to undergo the alcohol training in Indonesia before they start serving. 

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He said, “Tourists must be informed, like some world-class designations that are of higher quality, they have limited. Once they [tourists] exceed orders, the bar staff and waiters say no, this is too much.”

Minister Uno continued, “If they lose consciousness due to consuming too much alcohol, they can carry out activities that not only violate laws but also norms; there are those who take off their clothes.”

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He said that the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economies firmly supports the provision of legal sanctions as a deterrent for tourists behaving badly in Bali. He noted that deterrents include not only deportation but bans on visiting all areas of Indonesia.

Minster Uno explained, “This requires support not only from law enforcement officials, but the community and the tourism ecosystem to remind tourists that there are limited to drinking and the use of drugs is prohibited and will be dealt with very severely. We must limit the use of alcohol or anything that can trigger unlawful behavior.”

As a result of the rise in the number of reports of foreigners behaving badly in Bali the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economies has confirmed that they are working with the Bali Immigration teams to evaluate the visa on arrival policy and to create more awareness for tourists about what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour.

The collaboration will also allow the two parties to decide on how best to implement strict law enforcement measures against tourists who are found to have been disobeying local cultural norms or breaking the law.

It is unlikely that any changes to the visa-on-arrival policy will be announced anytime soon. However, tourists planning to visit Bali in the coming weeks and months must be aware that tensions are running high in some spaces.

Local business owners, local communities, and local authorities are running out of patience with the small but significant minority of tourists who are behaving badly on the island.

People are on the lookout for tourists who are acting irresponsibly and have little reservations about posting bad behavior online or going to the authorities.

As always, Bali tourists are advised to respect local culture, consume alcohol responsibly, and be aware of their actions and surroundings at all times.