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Bali’s Government decided last year that they would launch an exciting feature sometime in 2024 called a Tourism Levy that would need to be paid by international visitors every time they enter Bali.

The Government has now set Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2024) as the day this tourism tax will take effect. All international visitors, even if they arrive as domestic passengers from other parts of the country, need to pay this fee.

You can access the Bali Government’s page for this fee information here.

The fee is separate from other fees visitors may have to pay to enter Indonesia, such as Visa, VOA, or eVOA. The Bali government collects this tourism levy intended to “preserve local culture.”

It is not clear where arriving passengers are to show the payment confirmation. Will the Government hire hundreds of employees to manage the various seaports and the airport to ensure that the payment has been made? How can they determine who is Indonesian, exempt from this fee, and who is a foreigner? Will they have a document check on everyone entering the island to ensure that the fee is paid by all who are required?

Also, some foreigners with long-term visas are excluded from this fee, but it appears that they need to apply for exemptions 30 days before arrival in Bali.

Usually, these various tourism levies and fees are baked into airfares, but exempting Indonesians from this form of fee collection would be challenging.

Love Bali invites you to join in supporting the tourism industry, with a focus on protecting the culture and natural environment of Bali.

As a form of support that aims to protect the customs, traditions, arts and culture, and local wisdom of the Balinese people. Bali will impose levy for the international tourist.

Efforts and innovations will continue to be made for maintenance the culture and the natural environment in Bali. There will also continue to be an improvement in the quality of services.

If Bali’s Government really aimed to protect the customs and traditions, they would stop the overdevelopment of hotels and other short-term accommodations aimed at visitors that are putting a tremendous toll on the island’s infrastructure and nature.

Bali Government’s Tourism Levy Information:

Recent Bali & Indonesia  Coverage:

Indonesia Prepares To Return Visa Free Entry Option For 20 Countries + ASEAN From Early 2024

Indonesia Leaks Passport Information Of 9 Million Foreigners

Indonesia Extends VOA & e-VOA For Nationals Of 93 Countries

Indonesia Ends Visa-Free Entry From 159 Countries

Australians Complain About Extremely Long Immigration Lines At Bali Airport

Indonesia’s Lawmakers Passed Law Banning Sex Outside Of Marriage & Cohabitation

Entering Indonesia Through Bali In May 2022

Conclusion

Tourism is vital for Bali’s economy, and the Government wanted to pilot away from it during the pandemic to farming and agriculture (a novel idea).

The small fee won’t deter any tourist from entering the island, but why make it so complicated? Have it included in air and sea fares and be done with it.

Now, tourists need to remember to pay another fee, and there could be yet another set of queue lines when entering Bali to check that the Tourism Levy has been paid or to check your nationality. Or are they going to install automated gates for airport and seaport exits?

I didn’t return to Bali in 2023 (I was there most recently in 2022), but I plan to visit the island likely in March.

Japan quietly this year relaunched and expanded its Trusted Traveler Program (TTP), which allows select travelers to use automated gates when entering and exiting the country.

We have previously covered our application and the airport inspection and TTP card issuance experiences (read more here and here). I yesterday used the program for the first time to enter the country at Haneda.

You can access Japan’s page for the TTP here.

Our Recent TTP Coverage:

Experience Report: Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Is Now Open For New Applications & Entry Via Automated Gates

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Application Experience

Japan Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) Streamlined Guide

Japan’s Trusted Traveler Program

Japan’s TTP program is not merely registering your passport information in advance and then using these automated gates, but you need to fill out an application online, upload your passport image, and wait several weeks for the preliminary inspection to complete.

Then, on your next trip to Japan, you need to buy revenue stamps and complete the final inspection at the airport or some other locations, and this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. You will be issued a TTP card on the spot that you can then use to enter and exit the country.

You can enter using the TTP card up to 15 times during its validity period.

Haneda TTP Entry Experience

You need to fill out the disembarkation card before you travel to use the gates and do it on the same TTP website.

The online form essentially asks for the same questions as the paper one. It would not accept the hotel’s address (could not proceed), but using the hotel’s name was enough.

You should soon receive an email confirmation that the information has been completed.

The arrivals hall yesterday morning wasn’t super busy (I didn’t take a photo – as it is prohibited), and the foreigner line was not long.

As this was my first time using the TTP card, I wasn’t sure where these (it turned out that it is just ONE machine) gates were, and I asked for advice.

The TTP gate area is furthest to the left at the Haneda Terminal 3, past the automated gates for Japanese passport holders. It was not apparent at all.

Only one of the five gates was designated for the TTP entrants, but nobody was using any of them.

The screen gives you the order of steps which you should follow. I made the mistake of inserting my TTP card first, making it stuck to the reader, and I needed help to release it.

1. Scanner reads your passport

2. You insert the TTP card

3. Fingerprints

4. Photograph

5. The machine updates your TTP card

The machine takes its time in some of these steps, and I thought there might have been an issue, but it was all good at the end, and the port opened.

I decided not to do the electronic customs form this time but filled out the paper one.

Conclusion

Japan could easily open the normal passport e-gates to visa-free nationals because the TTP secondary inspection process is rather time-consuming, and the preliminary one also takes weeks. I don’t think this product makes much sense for anyone other than those visiting Japan several times yearly.

As I have said previously, I consider this an “insurance” in case several long-haul planes arrive roughly at the same time, and there is congestion at the immigration (several reports earlier this year about excess wait times). My arrivals since October last year, when I first entered Japan after the pandemic on a “tour” visa, have been all smooth.

This, however, makes me more confident to book forward flights without excess transit time on separate tickets, like I did yesterday.

I was arriving from New Delhi on a JAL flight (the last segment of my Oneworld RTW ticket) around 6 AM and was continuing to Kagoshima. If I had not had this TTP card, I would have probably booked a 10 AM flight but decided to go with an 8:05 AM one instead (AA award at 7,500 miles and $0). There was a slight delay on arrival, but I still had plenty of time to visit the lounge at Terminal 1.

What have been your experiences using the TTP card? Please leave your comments below.