The Love Bali mobile application and the provincial government’s Tourism Levy policy will be officially launched and enforced on the 14th of February 2024.
The provincial government of Bali has concluded the final trial of the Love Bali mobile application. Love Bali underwent the User Acceptance Test to assess the mobile app’s readiness in terms of service infrastructure. The final tryout, conducted on the 7th of February, took place at the office of PT. Bank Pembangunan Daerah Bali (BPD Bali) and recorded 700 Tourism-Levy transactions made by foreigners who had already subscribed to the mobile application before its official launch.
“The circumstances in which the tryout was conducted must be in line with what the real-life circumstances would be once the app is launched,” Ngurah Udiyana, the computer expert from the provincial government’s Department of Communications, Information, and Statistics, told the press on the same day.
Doubling down on the subject, Gede Pramana, the provincial government’s Head of the Department of Communications, Information, and Statistics, also said, “The tryout encapsulated a limited scope, but, because we oriented on real-life circumstances, plenty of transactions were recorded during the tryout.”
In addition to the transaction recordings, the provincial government also tested whether the transaction payment channels suffered from any error, the channels being VISA, Mastercard, JCB, AMEX, BCA, BPD Bali Channel, mobile banking transfer, and Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard or QRIS.
The provincial government of Bali is set to charge visiting foreigners a fee of Rp150,000 or approximately US$ 10 per person beginning from the 14th of February 2024. The payment of the fee, also known as the Tourism Levy, will be recorded using the government-authorised mobile application called Love Bali. The purpose of Tourism Levy is to preserve Balinese customs, traditions, arts and culture, and the local wisdom of the community.
Furthermore, the funds generated from the Tourism Levy will be utilised to cultivate and maintain the island’s culture and natural environment, improve the quality of services, and organise tourism. The provincial government has started the public socialisation of Tourism Levy and the Love Bali mobile application since last year.
Nonetheless, seven categories of foreign visitors in Indonesia qualify for exemptions from Tourism Levy:
- Foreigners who hold diplomatic and official visas;
- Foreigners who serve as crew members on vehicles;
- Foreigners who hold temporary or permanent stay permit cards (KITAS and KITAP);
- Foreigners who hold family unification visas;
- Foreigners who hold student visas;
- Foreigners who hold Golden Visas; and
- Foreigners who hold business-specific visas.