“We don’t want to see rice fields turned into villas and nightclubs.” The comment comes from Indonesia’s Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment Coordination, Luhut Pandjaitan, and it sums up his country’s attitude to the influx of visitors, which has not stopped growing in Bali since the end of the pandemic and has already sparked another controversy. According to the attitude of tourists.

The government has decided to put the brakes on the tourism sector, going a step further than the foreigners tax it imposed in February to prevent overcrowding. Like? With a moratorium preventing the construction of new hotels, villas and nightclubs on the paradise island. The Indonesian government’s aim is clear: it wants to avoid “a situation similar to Barcelona”.

Moratorium on hotels? That’s what Indonesian authorities in Bali are proposing. Information is still scarce, both in terms of how long the veto will last and the areas where the measure will be applied, but Reuters assures that the country has already agreed to impose a moratorium that would limit the construction of new hotels, villas and nightclubs.

Reuters cites a senior Indonesian government official as its source, but the truth is that this decision is in line with plans presented by the Board of Directors at the end of August to protect tourism and local culture and employment.

How will it be implemented? There are still doubts. Although everything from the outset suggests that the veto right over new businesses could be extended in the medium or even long term. Over the weekend, Pandjaitan hinted that such a moratorium could last five or even ten years, but explained that this would be considered “later”. Jakarta Post It emerged yesterday that a two-year ban had been proposed since Bali.

Another important point is exactly which areas it will affect. Bali’s acting governor, Sang Made Mahendra Jaya, has suggested to the central government that construction be reconsidered in four areas of the island, especially in the hotspots: Badung, Denpasar, Gianyar and Tabanan, where a moratorium will be imposed on commercial buildings. This includes hotels, villas or similar complexes.

So why? This will make the island’s tourist boom more bearable and less likely to clash with the islanders’ daily lives, culture and businesses. It’s nothing new. Indonesia recently showed its intention to “rethink” tourism in Bali to improve its quality and protect the destination itself. “We don’t want rice fields to turn into villas or nightclubs,” Pandjaitan said at the time.

“Today, more than 200,000 foreigners live in Bali. This has caused some problems, from crime to fewer employment opportunities for locals. The government has decided to improve tourism management on the island. We will promote controls and measures, starting with waste management, improvement of infrastructure and the creation of an ecological destination”.

Problems living together? This isn’t the first time the tropical island’s tourism has made foreign headlines — and not necessarily for good reasons. Over the past few years, as visitors have resumed their flow after the pandemic, Bali has dealt with a number of controversies involving rude travelers, some of whom have even been deported.

Two years ago, he expelled a Canadian who danced naked on a sacred mountain on the island in 2023. Influencer He also sneaked into a temple, and a little later something similar happened again with a German tourist and a Russian woman… With this background, a year ago Bali authorities considered restricting walks in some of its most symbolic places and recently passed a law imposing a tourist tax of 150,00 rupees, almost equivalent to 10 euros.

Is there that much tourism? Statistical tables show that before the health crisis, the flow of foreign tourists to Bali was growing at a good pace. Now, in the post-pandemic scenario, where the UN does not rule out exceeding the “pre-COVID” levels, this flow is recovering strongly. In July, the Bali Statistics Office recorded almost 625,700 visits by foreign tourists, a 20.1% increase compared to the previous month, and significantly higher than in the same month in 2023. Between January and July, 3.53 million foreigners were added, a 22.2% increase compared to the previous year. .

This increase has been accompanied by the strengthening of the hotel sector: before the pandemic, in 2019, there were 507 hotels spread across the island, last year the figure was already 541. Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno had already warned: “A 10% increase could push us into this region, risking the possibility of mass tourism in South Bali. We must avoid a situation like Barcelona, ​​where tourists become enemies of the people.”

Image by Ern Gan (Unsplash)

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