Bali’s tourism leaders continue to grapple with the most effective ways to deal with badly behaved tourists on the island.
In the latest incident, a tattoo parlour in Kuta was trashed by two Australian tourists in a dispute over money.
While authorities have indicated they are ready to step up scrutiny
of tourists’ behaviour, some are wary about the impact of social media
posts by local Balinese which show incidents of bad behaviour.
The deputy mayor of Denpasar, Radek Agus Arya Wibawa, has asked the
public not to ‘viralise’ or spread videos of negative behaviour by
foreign tourists in Bali because it damages the image of the island in
the eyes of international travellers.
He would like to see more images going viral of tourists and Balinese enjoying good times together.
But the bad behaviour continues, prompting a move by the Bali
Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the
Immigration Department to collaborate with traditional village chiefs in
monitoring foreign tourists more closely.
Extra security patrols will be launched in popular areas such as Canggu to quickly identify troublemakers.