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Indonesia: Tourism leaders in the Indonesian province of Bali are set to launch a crackdown on holiday rental villas being operated illegally without the correct business registration documents.
Villas in Bali are required to be built according to Indonesian safety standards, while the businesses operating those properties must pay tax in Indonesia and employ staff in line with Indonesian law in order to be legally recognised.
Representatives from the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association have held a working team meeting to discuss the situation, while expressing concerns that the proliferation of illegally operated rental properties will tarnish the reputation and public image of Bali in the long term.
Kadek Adnyana, chairman of the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association, told The Bali Post: “We hope that the government and police can help us stop this practice by making strict regulations, so that it can reduce or even eliminate scammers in this sector.
“Our tourism already faces many challenges, from traffic jams, garbage, to poor security issues in the eyes of the international community. If this scammer problem continues to be ignored, Bali’s reputation will continue to decline,” added Adnyana.
The Bali Villa Rental and Management Association has since proposed a solution to the Bali Tourism Office which would enable the association to become the official verification authority for tourist rental villas in the province.
Adnyana continued: “We want to be the official verifier. Consumers can use the website that collaborates with the Bali Tourism Office, to book a verified villa. Agents outside the list [would] be considered unsafe and are not recommended.”
The association chairman explained that many of the businesses illegally operating rental villas in Bali are accepting payments online to bank accounts not registered in Indonesia, adding that the misuse of visas by property managers living outside of Bali will have a detrimental impact on the province’s local economy and risk invalidating tourist’s insurance policies.
