Nusa Penida, which has turned into a must-see spot for many visitors in recent years, yesterday began to collect entrance fees from tourists visiting the small island off the east coast of Bali.
The fee collection is regulated under a 2018 Regional Regulation on Fees for Recreational Places and Sports Facilities, which covers a number of destination and activities in Klungkung Regency, including Goa Lawah Temple and Semarapura City Tour.
For both domestic and foreign tourists visiting Nusa Penida, they will now be subjected to a fee of IDR 25,000 (USD 1.77) for adults, and IDR 15,000 (USD 1.06) for children. The fees are collected on Nusa Penida’s ports.
Nusa Penida,which is increasingly a favorite destination amongst both adventure-seeking travelers and Instagram bloggers, is known for its jaw-dropping cliff panoramas, amazing diving and rugged beauty. But the island has quite limited infrastructure along with two other islands clustered in Klungkung.
Citing data from Klungkung’s Tourism Agency, Tribun-Bali reported that more than 250,000 people visited the regency last year. In 2019, the regency hopes to welcome more than 540,000 tourists, and collect a targeted IDR 7 billion in local government revenue. The newly applied entrance fees to Nusa Penida, therefore, are expected to make a significant contribution to that.
The local government is also planning on managing the attractions surrounding Nusa Penida as part of an effort to tap the potential of the increasing number of tourists drawn to the beautiful spots on the island.
“We have yet to fix up and manage the tourist attractions, so we can’t collect fees for them just yet. We will fix them up gradually,” Chief of Klungkung’s Tourism Agency, I Nengah Sukasta, told the Jawa Pos network.
According to a report from Kumparan, it seems that the fee collecting got off to a rocky start. Many tourists are reportedly surprised to discover that they have to pay a fee, and some tour operators claim that the new routine is creating more traffic congestion.
“They should have been able to have a much better designated spot [to collect the fees], maybe even work with the boat-service providers, so that it’s much more organized. Guests won’t complain if that’s the case, right now it looks like a bunch of thugs asking for many and it could ruin our tourism,” Mangku Sony, owner of Nusa Bali Tour, told Kumparan.
