1,600 Unlicensed Accommodations on Airbnb and Tiket.com Face Removal by 1 August 2026
Ministry of Tourism (Kemenpar) has identified approximately 1,600 accommodation businesses operating without valid permits still being marketed through online travel agencies (OTAs) such as Airbnb and Tiket.com. The government has given these businesses a two-month deadline to obtain the necessary licenses before they are removed from digital platforms starting 1 August 2026.
“Failure to process new permits within this two-month period will result in their delisting from 1 August 2026,” said Minister of Tourism Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, as reported by detikTravel.
Widiyanti stressed that this regulatory measure aims to ensure the sustainability of the tourism industry, protect tourists, foster fair competition, and strengthen digital governance within the sector.
To this end, Kemenpar is enhancing collaboration with OTA partners to organise the national tourism digital ecosystem by developing an Application Programming Interface (API)-based verification system to confirm all digital platform-listed accommodations hold valid Business Licenses.
“Our policy direction is clear. We aim to cultivate a fair and competitive tourism industry for sustainable growth,” Minister Widiyanti stated.
The API system is currently in internal development stages before being integrated with partner OTAs for seamless connectivity.
Under the implementation plan, OTAs will require businesses to submit three key data points: Business Identification Number (NIB), Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (KBLI), and Business Activity Number (NKU). These will be used by OTAs and the Ministry of Tourism, integrated with the OSS system, to automatically verify Business Licenses.
If the provided information matches, accommodation providers (merchants/hosts) will be verified and approved to operate on OTA platforms. Conversely, discrepancies will result in rejected applications or halted processing.
“This process will create a faster, more accurate verification mechanism, ensuring all parties have precise and relevant information, while supporting licensed accommodation labeling on OTA platforms,” Widiyanti said.
The minister aims to launch the API system by June 2027. Once operational, OTAs must ensure no unlicensed accommodations, properties, or partners remain listed without valid NIB and appropriate KBLI classifications.
Previously, since March 2025, Kemenpar has implemented initiatives alongside regional governments and OTA partners. These included awareness campaigns across five provinces, six coaching clinics educating over 1,500 businesses, and collaboration with nine OTA partners to communicate and enforce regulatory requirements. These efforts have significantly increased awareness of the importance of business legality.
Data as of 20 May 2026 showed a 46.5% rise in short-term accommodation units officially registered with NIB under the OSS system across eight tourism-related KBLI categories compared to 31 March 2025. Among these categories, villa accommodations recorded the highest growth at 76.4%.
“This demonstrates an increasing number of tourism accommodation businesses entering the formal system and fulfilling their obligations. Such positive progress would not have been possible without collaboration between Kemenpar, provincial and district/city governments, and support from all our OTA partners and associations,” the minister said.
Kemenpar has also identified tourism accommodations lacking Business Licenses. These will be reported to OTAs, which will then proceed to delist non-compliant merchants within two months of notification. If merchants subsequently obtain the required permits, they can be relisted on OTA platforms.