Bali tax revenue up Rp300 billion

Bali Governor Wayan Koster said on May 30 that foreign tourist arrivals to the island fell in April and May 2026, while hotel and restaurant tax revenue increased from a year earlier. The figures, reported by The Bali Times and confirmed in Indonesian media coverage of Koster’s remarks at the Bali & Beyond Travel Fair in Badung, have been presented by provincial officials as evidence that Bali can collect more from tourism even with fewer visitors. Koster said the decline in arrivals was linked to global conditions, including disruptions affecting travel between Europe and Asia. He paired that with a separate message on tax compliance, saying illegal villas and other unlicensed operators remain a problem. ### How big was the revenue increase? Koster said Bali collected Rp2.89 trillion in hotel and restaurant tax, known locally as PHR, from Jan. 1 to May 27, 2026. The comparable figure for roughly the same period in 2025 was Rp2.62 trillion, according to Koster’s remarks carried by ANTARA and summarized by The Bali Times. The increase works out to about Rp270 billion, and Koster described it publicly as “around Rp300 billion.” The Bali Times reported that the total was projected to reach Rp2.9 trillion by the end of May. ### How much did tourist arrivals fall? Koster said foreign arrivals fell about 9% in April 2026 and about 7% in May 2026 from the same months a year earlier. The Bali Times said the decline came as flight routes between Europe and Asia were disrupted by tensions in the Middle East, and Kompas.com reported Koster linking the slowdown to wider geopolitical strains involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Those comments matter because Bali has been one of Indonesia’s largest international tourism gateways. A separate policy briefing cited in current Bali tourism coverage puts the island’s 2026 target at about 6.63 million foreign visitors after a record 2025. ### Why are officials calling this “quality over quantity”? The Bali Times quoted Koster as saying the revenue figures supported Bali’s push for “quality over quantity” tourism. In that framing, the province is trying to rely less on headline visitor volume and more on higher spending, better-regulated tourism activity and stronger tax collection. The phrase has appeared repeatedly in Bali policy and tourism coverage over the past year. The emphasis is not only on visitor spending but also on whether hotels, villas and other businesses are licensed and paying what they owe. ### Where is the extra money coming from? Koster said one reason tax collections can rise even when arrivals fall is that not all tourism activity is being captured evenly, and some operators have been outside the tax net. ANTARA quoted him saying Bali has many illegal villas and unlicensed accommodations that do not pay tax. The Bali Times reported that provincial officials recently met online travel agencies to discuss compliance by hotels and villas listed on their platforms. That places part of the focus on enforcement rather than just demand. ### Is Bali also trying to spread tourism beyond the south? The Bali Times quoted Achris Sarwani as saying a broader distribution of visitors across Bali would help more regions benefit from tourism income. That reflects a long-running issue for the island, where tourism activity and hotel-and-restaurant tax receipts are concentrated in the south. A 2025 Bali policy plan reported by local media said six regencies agreed to stop actively promoting new hotel and restaurant development starting in 2026, provided tax revenue from the main southern tourism belt is shared more proportionally. ### What should readers watch next? Bali’s next measurable test is whether tax revenue keeps rising through the middle of 2026 while foreign arrivals remain below last year’s pace. The province’s stated 2026 target is about 6.63 million foreign visitors, and officials are also continuing compliance talks with online travel agencies and scrutiny of unlicensed tourism businesses. (thebalitimes.com)