Sweeping teams are gathering in Bali to close illegal travel agents and tour operators, according to a story in Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com).
“Sweeping†is a term used in Indonesia to describe an unofficial posse intent on righting what it believes is a wrong: in this case travel agents who operate with impunity via the Internet.
The head of the Bali Tourism Service, I B Kade Subhiksu, told the media on the island that illegal tour agencies must be closed.
Subhisku admitted that the number of supervisory personnel at his office was limited while the area encompassing Bali was large.
The large number of unlicensed travel agents selling package tours over the Internet is also coming under increasing scrutiny from the government.
Governor Made Mangku Pastika, quoted in Bisnis Bali, said the government and tourism stakeholders needed to cooperate to curb the operation of illegal travel agents and bring legal certainty to their operations.
The governor also said the time for counseling illegal operators had passed
“Eradicate the illegal tour operators in order to protect the tourism image of Bali,” the governor urged.
