Bantul Regency Requests Tourists to Be Honest When Passing Through Parangtritis TPR
Tourists passing through the Parangtritis toll collection point (TPR) en route to Gunungkidul are assured exemption from fees by the Bantul Regency administration. The local government has urged tourists to honestly state their intentions to the TPR Parangtritis officers.
This was conveyed by Deputy Regent of Bantul, Aris Suharyanta, during a surprise inspection at TPR Parangtritis today.
Aris explained that tourists do not need to pay fees at TPR Parangtritis if their travel destination is not the Parangtritis tourism area but rather continuing to Gunungkidul.
“We conducted a surprise inspection at TPR Parangtritis to ensure that all visitors from wherever they come who are heading to Gunungkidul are exempted from fees,” said Aris to reporters on Sunday (19/4/2026).
Conversely, visitors intending to tour Parangtritis remain subject to the standard rates.
“Please proceed without charge for those heading to Gunungkidul. But if going to Parangtritis, payment is still mandatory,” he stated.
He emphasised that this policy heavily relies on tourists’ honesty. Due to limited staff numbers, detailed checks on every vehicle are difficult to perform in the field.
“We ensure that all visitors passing through the TPR will be charged fees, provided they are indeed heading to Parangtritis. Those going to Gunungkidul may proceed. I hope tourists are honest, because with our limited personnel, we cannot check each one individually,” he continued.
As a long-term solution, there is a proposal to relocate the TPR point closer to the tourism sites. The aim is to make fee collection more targeted without burdening tourists who are merely passing through.
Previously, a social media post narrating how tourists heading to Gunungkidul were charged fees at TPR Parangtritis in Bantul caused a stir. The Bantul Tourism Office (Dispar) responded to the matter.
“Double fee practices resurface on Friday (10/04/2026). Tourists intending to visit Gunungkidul tourism areas were reportedly charged fees again at TPR Parangtritis. This incident drew attention because similar issues had not yet received thorough clarification from the relevant parties. Although there had been a cross-regional agreement that tourists destined for Gunungkidul should not be charged fees in other areas. The re-emergence of this practice is seen as potentially harming tourists and undermining commitments to transparent and accountable tourism services. As of this report, no official statement from the relevant agencies has been issued regarding the cause of this recurring charging,” wrote the Instagram account @gunungkidul_viral2 as seen by detikJogja on Monday (13/4/2026).
Adyatama for Tourism and Creative Economy at the Bantul Tourism Office (Dispar), Markus Purnomo Adi, said he was aware of the post. He suspected that the tourists did not mention their intended tourism destination.