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Travellers keen on visiting Bali have no cause for worry, said the island's tourism chief Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun.

This is despite Indonesia's recently-announced overhaul of its criminal code — a controversial move that includes penalising premarital sex and cohabitation.

Set to take effect in three years' time, the law will make sex outside marriage punishable with up to one year's jail.

A private matter

Pemayun, who heads the Bali Provincial Tourism Office, said hotels would not ask for proof of travellers' marital status.

"When people arrive at a hotel, they arrive for leisure," Pemayun said in an interview with CNA.

"They will be treated just like now (without being checked for their marital status)."

Putu Winastra, who heads the Bali chapter of one of Indonesia's major travel agency associations, concurred, saying that hotels would ensure travellers' privacy.

"No need to make such a fuss," he told CNA.

"I am sure the hotels will never ask for your marriage certificate. Whether you are married or not, they will never ask you because it’s a private matter."

Winastra added that he hopes the new criminal code would not affect tourism.

"We don’t want tourists to avoid Bali," he emphasised.

Hoteliers "strongly reject" new code

Outside of Bali however, some hoteliers nonetheless expressed anxiety over the new code.

"A tourist’s freedom could be taken away by the new criminal code which I believe is very contrary to the concept of tourism," one Bintan hotel manager told CNA.

"I and other hoteliers reject the criminal code very much and hopefully there will be a review even though this will (only) take effect in three years. Because this is not in favour of Indonesia’s tourism."

Activists have also staged protests against the new criminal code, with the deputy chief of Indonesia's tourism industry board calling it "totally counter-productive" to post-pandemic recovery efforts.

Top photo via Bali Tourism Board