At the end of March on the island of Bali, a Russian tourist climbed a sacred mountain, where he then took a picture of himself semi-naked with his pants pulled down to his ankles, and shared the picture on social networks. The twenty-four-year-old youth so outraged the locals that he was expelled from the country. But it is not an isolated case. An Indonesian island is dealing with an increasing number of ill-mannered tourists and is proposing drastic measures.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bali has become a very popular destination for people who wanted to take a break from the conflict, notes the American station CNN. The island with its long sandy beaches and turquoise sea is 60 percent dependent on tourism, and the locals were happy to see the return of foreigners after the coronavirus pandemic. But they are less happy about the fact that many of them openly violate local customs and laws.
The biggest problem is with tourists from Russia. While 58,000 Russians and 7,000 Ukrainians visited Bali last year, this year there were 43,000 Russians in the first three months alone. After Australians, they are now the second largest group of foreigners on the island. In addition, they can now travel to Indonesia without applying for tourist visas in advance – all they have to do is at the border.
“Many foreign tourists, mainly Russians, are working here illegally and disrupting our own trade,” Tedy Riyadi, head of Denpasar’s immigration department, told Deutsche Welle. “They work here as guides or rent motorbikes. We even deported a photographer. The Balinese cannot accept this because they depend on these types of work.”
Alexandra, who moved to the island herself when her native country attacked Ukraine, also described the behavior of Russians in Bali for the German station. “They are openly working here without a permit. They even brag about it on Instagram and say they don’t care,” he says. Therefore, they agree with the vigorous response of the local government.
Of the 40 foreign tourists who were deported from Bali between January and April this year, 14 were of Russian nationality. That’s more than a third, representing the largest group of deported foreigners, authorities said.
Rooster complaint
There are also regular reports in the local media that tourists cause traffic accidents, drive recklessly or disrespect the local police, with whom they get into arguments. They also ride scooters shirtless or expose themselves inappropriately, as was the case with the Russian tourist on Mount Agung.
Other times there is disrespect or general misunderstanding of local customs. For example, a group of tourists in Bali filed an official complaint about a rooster crowing near their accommodation.
“How can you complain about something like this? We can’t control the chickens,” Megah Bintaranny, who works at the local market, wondered at the time. “If you want to live here among the locals, you have to embrace the local sounds.”
“We are very tolerant,” personal assistant and freelance photographer Fatmawati explains to the American newspaper Washington Post (in Indonesia, it is common to use only one name – editor’s note). According to him, the problem is mainly with tourists who think of themselves as something more. “It’s disgusting – people are fed up with it,” he adds.
At the same time, the Balinese are largely dependent on tourism, and during the coronavirus pandemic, the island suffered greatly when the entry of foreigners was restricted due to security measures.
“I think Bali has become a party island for a lot of people. That might be one of the reasons why people don’t realize that the locals are very traditional,” explains Ravindra Singh Shekhawat, who is in charge of Bali at Intrepid Travel. The vast majority of the population are Hindus who practice their own offshoot of a typically Indian religion mixed with local traditions.
Tax for tourists
Although the majority of tourists behave well, the government wants to take action against ill-behaved people and tighten some of the current measures. Russia could thus lose the opportunity to travel to the country without preparation, and people would have to apply for a tourist visa 60 days in advance.
In addition, Indonesia is considering introducing a blanket tax for all tourists, warns the British server The Guardian. The government is currently having its effects reviewed.
According to the legislators, the island should move away from mass tourism and focus on becoming a selective tourist destination. But locals fear that the introduction of the tax would lead to a weakening of tourism as a whole and thus affect the economy, which is still recovering from the pandemic. Politicians reply that the collected money would be invested in local business.
In addition, Bali is considering banning the use of motorbikes by tourists, who often ride them without helmets and do not respect traffic rules or police calls.
