Indonesian tourism operators are still trying to recover from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic
The country’s parliament has now passed new laws that some fear will turn tourists away once more because having sex outside of marriage is set to be prohibited
The contentious laws, which critics have dubbed a “disaster” for human rights, also prohibit unmarried couples from cohabiting and limit political and religious freedoms. This week saw protests in Jakarta, and the laws are expected to be challenged in court.
The new criminal code is set to go into effect in three years and will apply to Indonesians, foreigners, and visitors alike. It has received widespread coverage in neighbouring Australia, where some newspapers have dubbed it the “Bali bonk ban.”
Some observers believe the new criminal code will have little impact on tourists, in part because any prosecution would require a complaint filed by the accused couple’s children, parents, or spouse. However, a Human Rights Watch researcher believes that in some cases, the new code “will be a problem.”
The Indonesian economy is heavily reliant on tourism from Australia, which was Indonesia’s top tourist source prior to the pandemic. Bali weddings are fairly common, and thousands of Australian graduate students travel to Bali each year to celebrate their graduation from high school.
A trip to Bali is considered a rite of passage for many young Australians. Others visit a few times a year for quick, inexpensive getaways. As word spread that the slew of new laws had become a reality after years of rumours, some scepticism about future trips began to creep in.
Users on tourism-related Facebook pages in Indonesia attempted to make sense of the changes and what they meant for foreign visitors. Some said they’d start travelling with their marriage certificates, while others who weren’t married said they’d go elsewhere if they couldn’t share a hotel room with their partner because of the laws.
Also Read: The Indonesian Parliament decides to forbid extramarital sex
“You’ll be bribing your way out,” one member of the Bali Travel Community group predicted. Melissa Giroux, a Canadian travel blogger who lived in Bali for 18 months in 2017, told the BBC she was “shocked” that the law was finally passed after years of discussion.
“Many tourists will prefer to go somewhere else rather than risk going to jail once the law is enforced,” Ms Giroux, who writes the blog A Broken Backpack, said. “And I’m not even talking about the singles who come to Bali to a party or the couples who fall in love while travelling.”
