Common Bali mistake sparks important reminder ahead of peak travel season: ‘Unwritten rule’

Australia’s peak season for international travel kicks off next month, with experts warning that between December and February, demand for flights and accommodation will skyrocket.

The Christmas period‘s popularity among vacationers is certainly no surprise, but it has prompted tourism experts to repeat their pleas to the thousands of Aussies soon to hop on a flight, urging them to respect local customs in the country in which they land.

Particularly, they say, in the wake of a string of recent examples of travellers flouting local laws in Bali.

Sometimes, this simply is due to them being unaware of local customs, Joseph Cheer, professor of sustainable tourism at Western Sydney University told Yahoo News Australia.

This week, a British woman said she was “shaking” after confronting two people she claims were swimming topless in front of children at a “family beach”. The video, which has since gone viral, shows what appears to be two young women, though it’s unclear what they were wearing.

Recently, three women wearing bikinis in a Bali supermarket were criticised for disrespecting Indonesia’s notoriously conservative culture. A German woman who disrupted a performance while completely naked at a sacred temple, also drew widespread condemnation in 2023.

Australians may also remember that in 2023, Queensland man Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones faced 40 lashes and five years in jail for going on what authorities described as a drunken, naked and violent rampage. The Noosa man was detained but later released.

Travel expert’s advice to Aussies holidaying in Bali

Due to Bali’s immense popularity with Australians, similar incidents are likely to continue without increased education and awareness among travellers, Cheer warns.

“People who travel need to also understand the burden of responsibly falls on them, to understand the social norms and customs of the places they’re visiting,” he told Yahoo. “It’s not as if you do whatever you can do at home at the places that you visit. Being a good visitor means being respectful, adhering to the social norms that are evident in the country they are visiting.”

Cheer said some countries have “unwritten rules” that are “often hidden” — meaning it’ll pay off to do your research beforehand.

“This is particularly important if your culture, and ways are doing things are vastly different. For example if you’re from a western country like Australia and if you’re going to a country like Saudi Arabia, where things are quite different, requires you to educate yourself on the particular nuances of the country you’re visiting,” he said.

“Walking into a shrine with a bikini on is unacceptable. Walking into a mosque without a scarf on is socially unacceptable as well, it may not be in your own country but the reference point should not be what is acceptable for you, but it should be what are the social norms of the places your visiting and that can only be learned through education,” he said.

“Before you leave — and not once you get there.”

Cheer said these mistakes are typical among first-time travellers. “It’s better to overcompensate in the country you are visiting rather than just to assume what you do in your own country is OK,” he said. “Don’t just blindly hop on a plane and go, do some Googling.”

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