Every day, Bali Airport welcomes and sends off around 76,000 people. Almost every foreigner entering Indonesia starts their journey here. Therefore, Bali's Governor Wayan Koster decided to visit the airport personally to see what might spoil the first impression of the resort for guests.
Koster gathered in Denpasar the heads of all services responsible for the airport: customs, immigration, health control, and police. According to him, the most obvious problem faced by tourists is long queues in the passport control and customs area. Many complain that the processing takes up to an hour, although the procedure should formally take only a few minutes.
The second weak point is baggage claim. The systems are slow, and tourists often have to spend as much time waiting for their luggage as they did for passport control. There's also an inefficient customs declaration process. Although an online form is available, a significant number of passengers still fill out paper forms out of habit, wasting extra minutes.
The governor's main concern, however, is transportation and order at the terminal exit. Tourists are met by illegal taxi drivers, who are difficult to distinguish from official carriers. Such drivers charge inflated prices, and safety is not guaranteed. Additionally, the square outside the airport is crowded, with traffic jams both at the entrance and exit. According to Koster, this creates "chaos at the island's gate."
Now the governor demands immediate changes. He insists that the airport must meet international quality standards: precision, safety, cleanliness, and efficiency must be unconditional.
Governor Wayan Koster sees the solution in digitizing all processes. To this end, the All Indonesia service is being launched - a single digital window for handling immigration, customs, and health forms. From September 1, it is mandatory for everyone. The system should allow tourists to fill out documents before flying to Indonesia. Thus, upon boarding the plane, the formalities will already be completed, and border crossing time will be halved.
A separate task is the modernization of transport. Some airport vehicles will be replaced with electric cars to reduce the environmental impact and showcase modern service levels. For tourists, a clear system of licensed carriers with official pricing and electronic orders will be introduced. Authorities believe this will not only eliminate illegal taxi drivers but also reduce congestion.
Funding for the changes is already planned. From February 2024, Bali will levy a foreign tourist tax (PWA). Every visitor pays it upon entry, and the collected funds go towards the island's development, primarily infrastructure. According to the government, just waste disposal on Bali requires processing about 1,000 tons of waste daily. The tourist tax should help address this issue and transportation problems.
After the meeting, Koster personally toured the arrival terminal with a delegation. He inspected the passport control and baggage claim areas, customs, and the places where tourist tax payment counters are located.
“I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport is the face of Bali and Indonesia in the eyes of the world. All services must work with dedication, honesty, and without actions that harm tourists,” concluded the governor.
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