Every one of Explera's four destinations charges the visitor something that is not the visa, and in each market a different party pays it at a different moment. That is the whole operational problem: a fee the client pays online before departure, a fee the hotel collects at check-out and a fee already inside the air fare are three different lines in a quotation and three different conversations at the desk. This guide separates them.
As of 20 September 2026. Levies are legislated, postponed and amended more often than almost anything else in this business, so this is dated deliberately and should be reconfirmed against each country's official channel at the time of booking.
The Distinction That Matters
A levy is not an entry authorisation, and paying one does not substitute for the other. This is the single most common client error across the region: a traveller completes the visible, well-marketed payment step and assumes the paperwork is done. It is not, and the two are usually run by different arms of government on different portals.
Ask who collects it, not what it costs. Whether a fee is paid by the client online, added by the hotel, or bundled into a ticket decides whether it belongs in your quotation, in your joining instructions, or nowhere at all. Agents lose money by quoting fees that were already in the fare, and lose goodwill by omitting fees the client meets at check-out.
What Each Destination Charges
Indonesia runs the clearest example, and the most commonly misunderstood. The Bali tourist levy is a per-person charge on foreign visitors entering Bali, paid through the provincial Love Bali portal, ideally before travel, and it produces its own QR code. Crucially it is provincial, not national — a client flying into Jakarta for a Java programme does not pay it, and a multi-island itinerary needs the question answered from the actual flight sequence rather than from the brochure. It sits alongside, and does not replace, the visa and the arrival card. Our Indonesia entry rules guide sets out all three.
Japan splits the question. A national International Tourist Tax is levied on departure and is normally collected inside the air fare, so the client never sees it as a separate payment. Separately, a growing number of municipalities — Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto among the best known — levy an accommodation tax, usually banded by room rate and collected by the property. That one does reach the guest, at check-in or check-out, and it is the one worth naming in joining instructions. Rates and the list of municipalities change; treat any figure you were given last season as unverified.
Korea is the simplest of the four for an agent: the departure levy is collected within the air ticket and there is no separate visitor charge for a client to arrange. The practical implication is that it needs no line in your quotation and no line in the briefing.
Thailand is the one to watch rather than to quote. A tourism fee has been legislated and has been postponed repeatedly rather than cancelled, which is a materially different thing: a postponed fee can commence at short notice on a date set by the cabinet. Do not print a start date, and do not tell clients the charge does not exist — tell them it is not currently collected and is subject to change.
How to Handle It in a Quotation
Separate the three collection points in your own file — paid by the client in advance, collected by the supplier, or inside the fare — and quote only the first two. A fee inside the air fare is not yours to add.
Put the client-paid ones in the joining instructions with the official portal named. Every visible tourist payment in the region has paid look-alike sites ranking well in search, and the most common way a client overpays is for something that was free or cheap.
Keep the QR codes retrievable offline. Where a levy issues a code, the client will be asked for it at a point where they may not yet have data.
What a Ground Handler Should Be Doing
Monitoring the official channel for each market rather than the trade press, telling partner agents when a rate or a scope changes rather than when a client discovers it, and answering the provincial-versus-national question against the group's actual routing. Explera DMC operates Japan, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia as one desk, so a multi-country file gets one answer covering all four rather than four partial ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does paying the Bali levy cover the visa? No. They are separate systems on separate portals, run by different authorities. So is the arrival card. A client can complete one and still be missing the other two.
Does the Bali levy apply to a Java or Sumatra programme? Not unless the routing actually enters Bali. It is a provincial charge, so work it out from the flight sequence rather than from the country.
Should I add Japan's departure tax to my quotation? Normally no — it is collected inside the air fare. Japan's municipal accommodation taxes are the ones that reach the guest directly, and those vary by city and by room rate.
Is Thailand charging a tourism fee? Not at the time of writing. It has been legislated and postponed more than once, which is not the same as cancelled, so quote it as pending rather than as absent and reconfirm close to travel.
Who should pay these — the agent or the client? Whoever your quotation says, but say it. The failure mode is silence: a client who meets an unexpected charge at check-out blames the agency, not the tax.
Fee briefings, multi-country quotations and ground operations across Japan, Korea, Thailand and Indonesia: write to b2b@expleradmc.com or message the trade desk on WhatsApp at +66 93 656 8090. Explera DMC is IATA TIDS-registered (96215733) and an ASTA member (900408341). Net-rate proposals within 24 hours.
