Indonesia’s push to bring thousands of unlicensed tourist stays into the legal fold is running into a familiar administrative obstacle in Bali, with operators saying the government wants faster compliance than the bureaucracy could allow.
In December, the Ministry of Tourism said unlicensed accommodation providers in Bali, Yogyakarta, West Nusa Tenggara and West Java had until March 31 to register their hotels, guest houses, villas and homestays, in a move meant to improve service quality, protect visitors and create fairer competition.
The announcement came after Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said he wanted to ban Airbnb, arguing that the platform enabled unlicensed accommodation businesses to earn untaxed income.
