“Transparency is a must. As this is a tourist tax, we hope that tourist business stakeholders are also involved in deciding what the collected fund would be used for. Don’t use the money for useless things such as buying cars for officials or many other things,” board chairman Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Partha said the income collected from the tax should be used for upgrading tourism facilities and promotion programs.

“There are many tourist attractions with bad facilities. We hope the money would be allocated to fixing them, so tourists will feel more comfortable,” he said.

He also hoped the fund would be allocated to upgrading infrastructure around Bali’s tourist attractions.

On Wednesday, Governor I Wayan Koster told local lawmakers the tourist tax was a means to preserve the island’s culture. "The payment of a fee for foreign tourists applies only one time during their visit to Bali," Koster said.

When asked if the new tax would deter visitors, Koster said authorities did not believe numbers would dip.

"It's not a problem. We will use it for the environment, culture and we will build better-quality infrastructure so traveling to Bali will be more comfortable and safe," he told reporters.

Partha said similar levies had been imposed in Thailand, Japan and several European countries. “We should not worry about it, it’s common nowadays. The sum is affordable for the tourists,” he said.

The island’s administration had previously canceled a plan to impose a $10 tax on foreign tourists. The levy plan, which was announced in 2019, could not be implemented, in part due to legal reasons. The Bali administration and legislative council decided to change it to a voluntary donation.

Earlier this year, the administration launched the We Love Bali program to collect donations from travelers visiting the island. The donation was to be managed by the administration to fund several plans for preserving Bali's culture and its environment.

Koster said that the donation program was a failure and has been revoked.

More than 2 million tourists visited the island last year, according to official figures, as Bali rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic after imposing a zero-tolerance policy on rule-breakers.

The Bali administration has vowed a crackdown on misbehaving tourists after a spate of incidents that have included disrespectful acts to the predominantly Hindu island's culture.

Bali immigration deported a Danish woman last month after she was filmed flashing to the public while riding a motorbike.

A Russian woman was also booted out of the island in April for posting a nude photo of herself in front of a sacred tree.

In June, the local government published a guide for tourists who wish to visit Bali after being pressed to do so by the island's immigration office.

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