Bali Council Passes Revised Tourist Levy Regulation; Governor Koster Expects Sharp Revenue Increase

Denpasar, Balijani.id ~ Bali's Provincial House of Representatives (DPRD) officially passed a revision to Regional Regulation No. 6 of 2023 on the Foreign Tourist Levy for the Protection of Balinese Culture and Natural Environment (PWA) during a plenary session on Tuesday, April 15, 2025. The session was chaired by DPRD Speaker Dewa Made Mahayadnya and attended by Bali Governor Wayan Koster.

The revision clarifies the levy's role as a funding source for cultural and environmental preservation while expanding its scope. Changes include new exemption categories for certain types of tourists, broader allowable uses of the collected funds—now including improvements to cultural tourism services—and strengthened administrative sanctions for foreign tourists who fail to pay.

Governor Koster disclosed that since the levy's launch on February 14, 2024, collections have reached only about 32% of the target, totaling Rp318 billion. He attributed the shortfall to the system being new and to the previous regulation's lack of provisions for third-party cooperation and compensation schemes. Under the revision, formal partnerships with third parties—complete with MoUs and cooperation agreements—can now be established legally, which Koster believes will sharply boost revenue starting mid-2025.

Next, the draft regulation will be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs for facilitation, and a revised Governor's Regulation will follow to enable effective implementation, targeted for May 2025.

Gede Kusuma Putra, coordinator of the revision discussions, explained that key changes include the expanded scope of the policy, exemption categories for certain tourist types, and new provisions on third-party cooperation, compensation, and administrative sanctions for non-compliant tourists. Collected funds can now also be used for improving tourism services and covering the operational costs of the levy collection system itself.