From Illegal Employment to Tourism: How Has the Trend of Foreign Tourist Visits to Bali Changed Over the Past Two Years?

Recently, foreign tourists in Bali have come under public scrutiny. This is due to a number of foreign tourists misbehaving and disturbing the local environment.

Some of these misbehaviors include changing motorcycle license plates to Russian, riding motorcycles without helmets, creating a petition against roosters crowing, and working illegally in Bali.

“Many foreigners like me work illegally in Bali,” said a Russian tourist, Ivan, as quoted by BBC Indonesia on Tuesday (March 7, 2023). Ivan is not his real name; he works as a surf instructor specifically for Russian tourists.

Previously, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, stated that Indonesia has opened its doors wide to foreign tourist visits. However, he added that foreign tourists visiting Indonesia are obligated to comply with existing regulations and norms.

"They (foreign tourists) must comply with all applicable laws and regulations, and all existing norms, and we will take firm action if they violate them," said Sandiaga, as quoted by CNN Indonesia on Monday (March 6, 2023).

Given this phenomenon, what is the trend of foreign tourist visits to Bali in the last two years?

Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), there were 331,912 visits by foreign tourists to Bali in January 2023. This figure is down 12.02% compared to December 2022 (month-on-month/mom), which saw 377,276 visits.

Compared to the previous year, the number of foreign tourist visits to Bali in January 2023 increased dramatically compared to January 2022, which only saw 3 visits. In January 2021, foreign tourist visits to Bali were only 10 people.

The easing and subsequent revocation of community activity restriction (PPKM) policies have gradually improved foreign tourist visits to the Island of Gods over the past year. This is evident in the graph above.

In January 2023, 330,037 foreign tourists (99.43%) visited Bali using air transportation, and 1,875 foreign tourists (0.55%) used sea transportation.

Based on their country of origin, the majority of foreign tourists visiting Bali were from Australia, with 91,254 visits (27.49%). This was followed by tourists from Russia with 22,104 visits (6.65%), India with 21,700 visits (6.53%), South Korea with 17,598 visits (5.3%), and Singapore with 16,586 visits (5%).