Bali Governor Wayan Koster has asked for support from Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives so that tourist destinations that contribute to the country's foreign exchange are given government incentives in the form of development of supporting tourism infrastructure.
This was conveyed by Koster when receiving a working visit group from the council led by Deputy Chair of Commission VII of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Evita Nursanty in Denpasar, Bali, Wednesday, during the discussion of the Tourism Bill.
"I provide input so that there is a norm in the bill that regions that are the world's main tourist destinations are given incentives in the form of infrastructure development or strategic facilities and other needs that are appropriate for each region," he said.
The Governor of Bali does not demand a nominal or percentage of incentives from the central government, but the scheme can be in the form of a submission from each region.
If this proposal passes the drafting of the bill, tourism areas can be assisted by the APBN in developing infrastructure to support tourism, which funds are outside of the DAU or DAK which are indeed provided for the regions.
According to him, Bali deserves this incentive, because the Island of the Gods contributed 44 percent of the country's foreign exchange or IDR 107 trillion circulating in Bali throughout 2024.
"For Bali, because it has a large contribution to Indonesia's tourism foreign exchange of 44 percent, it is appropriate that there is affirmative support from the central government to support tourism in Bali so that it is of high quality and sustainable," said Wayan Koster.
If the Tourism Bill answers his hopes, the Bali Provincial Government has planned to develop transportation infrastructure, especially land and sea.
According to him, Bali needs better connecting roads between districts/cities, so that traffic congestion can be reduced and traffic can flow smoothly.
"For us in Bali, the land and sea infrastructure needs improvement, now we have just added Sanur Port, it has been functioning very well to Nusa Penida, but the effect is congestion on the Bypass Road, that must be resolved," he said.
In the discussion of the Tourism Bill, the Governor of Bali also provided input for the material in the new law.
The governor from Buleleng Regency, Bali, proposed adding material to be a separate title, namely increasing the competitiveness of Indonesian tourism.
