No bikes in Bali for ‘disorderly’ foreigners

Bali is set to ban tourists from renting or driving motorbikes on the island because, as one official put it, “they’re disorderly and they misbehave”.

At a press conference at the ministry of law and human rights in Denpasar this week, Bali governor Wayan Koster said the decision was the result of the high incidence of accidents and traffic violations. Common offences, he said, included driving recklessly and without a licence, a helmet and a shirt.

Visitors will instead have to rent cars or transport options “prepared by tourism services that meet certain standards”, he said.

The ban was already law, but had not been enforced, particularly not during the pandemic when Bali’s tourist numbers plummeted. According to the regional government tourism office, Indonesia’s most popular island by far had 6.3-million direct foreign-tourist arrivals in 2019, only 51 in 2021 and 2.1-million in 2022. Koster said the goal of the crackdown was “to ensure quality and dignified tourism” and that he had sought the support of the ministry to let Bali revoke the visas of any foreign tourists caught riding motorbikes.

Bali’s police traffic unit on a day in February issued 367 traffic tickets, of which 167 were to foreigners driving rented motorbikes.

Critics quoted in local media expressed fears that the move would negatively affect tourism’s recovery, particularly after Indonesia outlawed extramarital sex in December. That move too raised concern about the impact on tourism, though Koster at the time said “no checks on marital statuses at tourist accommodations like hotels, villas, guest houses or spas”, nor inspections by public officials or community groups would be conducted.