Destinations known | How Bali brings out the worst in tourists – Indonesian island sees increase in badly behaved visitors
- Over the past two months, several separate incidents have drawn attention to how travellers act on the Island of the Gods
- Bali’s governor has had enough, vowing to send disorderly travellers home in future
Of course, holidaymakers misbehave wherever they lay their sun hats, but there seems to be something about Bali that brings out the absolute worst in tourists. Perhaps, because, according to a recent article on Thrive Global, the digital wellness platform founded by Arianna Huffington, it is “known to be an energy vortex [ …] where your emotions and past karma get whirled up into one big feelings tornado.” So, maybe all those aforementioned misdeeds were manifestations of karmic revenge in the form of some seriously significant feelings tornadoes? No, Destinations Known doesn’t think so either.
What is it, then, that makes such miscreants leave their manners at the immigration counter?
Last September, following a string of disrespectful behaviour at Bali’s temples, the island’s deputy governor, Tjokorda Oka Artha Sukawati, told British newspaper The Guardian that the island had experienced a decline in the type of traveller it attracted. “It is because we are too open with tourists, so too many come,” he said. Twelve months on and, if Google Alerts are anything to go by, it’s got even worse.
