The Bali Provincial Government says it has taken a stride in upholding the integrity of the island’s thriving tourism industry by establishing a dedicated Tourism Task Force. The new task force is expected to regulate and supervise all facets of tourism activities on the Island of Gods – without the use of viral clips on social media.
Bali Tourism Agency Head Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun said in a written statement made available yesterday that the new task force is expected to not only monitor foreigners or tourists, but also supervise tourism activities in general.
“With the task force, it is expected that it could perform an early prevention of potential violations from either tourists, tourist businesses, or the people. People who see or know violations can report to the institutions within the task force, and not make it go viral on social media,” said Tjokorda.
Tjokorda stressed the significance of reporting violations directly to the task force, rather than resorting to the viralization of incidents on social media platforms.
The task force, he said, represents an amalgamation of government bodies, community representatives, and tourism operators. Any discovered infractions will be dealt with in accordance with the prevailing laws and regulations.
Especially in the past few years, we have seen an abundance of viral stories about misbehaving and problematic foreigners in Bali. The incidents have inspired many meme pages and public discourse.
Violations range from visa abuse, traffic violations, to over-the-top misbehavior that disrespects local culture and people.
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