Bali’s provincial government is finalising a new tourism regulation that would let immigration and tourism officers check whether foreign visitors can afford their stay, the latest step in a push away from chasing raw arrival numbers toward what officials are calling “quality tourism”. Governor Wayan Koster said in January 2026 that the draft rule, formally titled the Regional Regulation on the Implementation of Quality Tourism, was “nearly complete” and would be submitted to Bali’s regional legislature during the year.
Under the proposal, officers would be able to request a three-month bank statement from visitors, particularly those applying for the 60-day C1/D1 visit visa, with a balance commonly cited around USD 2,000 treated as a rough benchmark rather than a fixed legal minimum. Tourists could also be asked about their planned length of stay and activities, part of a broader effort to filter out budget travellers blamed for straining the island’s roads, water supply and waste-management systems.
A record year prompts a rethink
The push follows a record 2025 for Balinese tourism, when the island recorded around 7.05 million foreign arrivals by air and roughly 71,000 more by sea, the highest totals in its history. “One aspect of quality tourism is the amount of money in visitors’ savings accounts over the past three months,” Koster said, adding that Bali intends to apply the kind of financial checks already used when Indonesian citizens travel abroad. “Going forward, we will focus on quality tourism, not merely on numbers, through regional regulations and improved tourism governance,” he said.
Levy and conduct rules already in force
The financial screening plan builds on measures already in effect. Foreign visitors have paid a IDR 150,000 (about USD 10) tourism levy through the official Love Bali platform since 2024, and in March 2025 Koster issued a circular letter, alongside Bali’s tourism office head Tjok Bagus Pemayun, setting immediate behavioural rules for foreign tourists ahead of the fuller regulation. Complaints about visitor conduct can be reported via a dedicated WhatsApp line, with enforcement carried out by the civil service police unit and Bali police.
Why it matters
Bali’s dilemma is one facing tourism hotspots worldwide: how to keep the revenue mass tourism brings while limiting the strain it places on infrastructure and residents. A financial screening requirement would make Bali one of the few destinations to condition entry, even informally, on visitors’ bank balances rather than simply raising fees or caps. Its progress through the provincial legislature this year will be watched closely by other islands and cities weighing similar trade-offs between visitor volume and visitor quality.
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