Indonesia's new laws on extra-marital sex to impact incoming tourism?

Fears have been raised in relation to new laws passed by Indonesia's Parliament this week banning sex out of wedlock.

The controversial laws, which also ban unmarried couples from living together and restrict political and religious freedoms, may well impact tourists visiting the country.

The new criminal code is set to take effect in three years and apply to Indonesians and foreigners living in the country, as well as visitors.

With the country's tourism industry still trying to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic, one Australian newspapers dubbed the ruling as the "Bali bonk ban".

While some observers say the new criminal code is unlikely to affect tourists in part because any prosecution would require a complaint filed by the children, parents or spouse of the accused couple, the BBC has reported that a researcher with Human Rights Watch said there could be circumstances where the new code "will be a problem".

Indonesia's economy heavily relies on tourism from Australia, which was Indonesia's number one tourist source before the pandemic.

Bali weddings are quite common, and thousands of Australia's graduate students fly to Bali every year to celebrate finishing high school.

On Facebook pages dedicated to tourism in Indonesia, users tried to make sense of the changes and what they mean for foreign visitors.

Some said they would start travelling with their marriage certificates, while others who were not married said they would go elsewhere if the laws meant they would not be allowed to share a hotel room with their partner.

A spokesperson for Indonesia's Justice Ministry tried to calm concerns by suggesting that the risk was less for tourists because anyone making the Police complaint would most likely be an Indonesian national.

Spokesperson Albert Aries was quoted as saying on news website WAToday "that means Australian (tourists) shouldn't be worried."

However, speaking on the ABC, Andreas Harsono, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, advised "let's say an Australian tourist has a boyfriend or a girlfriend who is a local.

"Then the local parents or the local brother or sister reported the tourist to the police. It will be a problem."