Bali is sick of badly behaved influencers amid COVID

The tourist mecca of Bali wants influencers and tourists to keep coming — but is sick of their bad behavior.

While many countries sent travelers home during the pandemic, Indonesia allowed them to stay… and many of them have behaved madly. In April a Russian porn star and her boyfriend filmed themselves having sex on a sacred mountain, another Russian instagrammer launched his motorbike off a dock, crashing into the sea and two YouTube doofuses were kicked out of the country after “pranking” a local store by painting on a face mask instead of wearing one, violating local mask laws.

And people in Bali have had enough.

“Yes, the foreigner brings income for us. But their action will risk the local who works to serve them as well. Can they have a little empathy?” Balinese politician and designer Niluh Djelantik, told the Guardian – pointing to influencers who want to rack up followers as the main problem.

“The key for Bali recovery (from the pandemic) is the low number of (Covid-19) cases. But the foreigner who has (online) followers creates content about violating the health protocol, leaving an impression that Bali is not safe,” Niluh said.

Robby Septiadi, chief of police in Badung Regency, told the paper it isn’t just influencers, noting: “The foreigners have a low level of compliance towards the health protocol regulation compared to the locals. It is very low.”

People wearing masks in Bali
The Indonesian government has been strict with health protocols and local mask rules to deter rises in COVID-19 cases in Bali.
MADE NAGI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

This year, over 340 foreign tourists have been cited for violating health protocols, for which they have been charged the equivalent of $70 and some have even been forced to do push ups by a frustrated local police force.

Balinese writer, Ni Made Purnama Sari, told the Guardian that the bad behavior is “a legacy of the Dutch colonial treatment of the island… This is a lasting colonial legacy. They only see Balinese as tools for the tourism industry.”

The Indonesian government is aiming to create high vaccination rated “green zones” to encourage domestic, and eventually foreign tourism, to the country’s key destinations, but until then people are exhorting the influencers and tourists to behave.

“To the foreigners who have followers, let’s hold hands together with Balinese. Have a little empathy,” Niluh told the Guardian. “You may avoid posting (controversial posts), and (have) concern for the people where you stay.”

source: nypost.com