Indonesia's Bali considering increasing Tourism tax levy to deter 'low-class foreign tourists'

[Quickstatus]

I still have to present my Medicare card at Emergency

and if you dont, they take your detail and there is no demand for pre payment.

Are fake details a particular problem

Yes.
Fake addresses, unanswered calls, emails, letters, burner phone
Some even use an Aussie friend's medicare card.

In the end its the Australian public who pays for it.

nyone inclined to give fake details would likely do the same to avoid a TI excess anyway.

Possibly but Ive had more success with payment when the patient carry TI. I suspect those who avoid paying a TI excess wont take out TI in the first place. So we are back to square one where the costs of 'carrying a tourist' presents a burden on the local government.

Dunno. What sort of thing?

If the passenger manages to arrive at the entry point and the buys TI, cover for the outbound flight eg cancellations, delays is a moot issue.

 

[Quickstatus]

Dunno. What sort of thing?

If the passenger manages to arrive at the entry point and the buys TI, cover for the outbound flight eg cancellations, delays is a moot issue.

 

[JohnK]

Why? It would open a minefield and be near impossible to police any sort of minimum standard coverage.

Not difficult to police. Have online visa approval like they did for Covid and check they have adequate coverage.

Back on the case of cheap tourists and what's killing Thailand at the moment.

Cheap tourists come to Thailand and purchase cheap accommodation where many stay in room. Some also don't purchase any accommodation.

They don't go anywhere and don't spend any money because they simply do not have money.

So what do these tourists actually do for Thai economy again? Tourism isn't just about keeping tourists happy, it's about keeping those employed in tourist industry employed and making money. I'm guessing same in Bali.

 

[Denali]

About 10yrs ago we went to Nth Sulawesi (a Indo province) and it was $50USD in a crisp, new note - cash only. Ive never been to Bali but Im guessing this is a cash grab, knowing the bogans will still come.

 

[SeaWolf]

I think it's possible they could do like Bhutan and have a daily tourist fee. I think it's probably a bit economically questionable though. Bali's entire economy is effectively tourism and introducing a steep tourist tax isn't likely create a situation that attracts more high spending tourists, it's just likely to eliminate the more budget conscious tourists and reduce the total number of tourists overall.

In Bhutan that seems to have been the aim, to curb the total number of tourists, but Bhutan has a lot of other industries. Bali on the other hand is highly dependent on tourism, so losing a whole cohort of tourists would be likely to have significant economic impact, especially on the people currently employed servicing them.

 

[Justinf]

US$70 is nothing for a cashed-up bogan though.