Ministry of Tourism cracks down on accommodations without a business licence
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Tourism is enforcing against all accommodations listed with online travel agencies (OTAs) that do not yet have a business licence in Indonesia. ‘We are continuing to coordinate with foreign OTAs. First, we will document them; these unlicensed accommodations must be recorded and may not be displayed or marketed,’ said Rizki Handayani Mustafa, Acting Deputy for Industry and Investment at the Ministry of Tourism, when he met with ANTARA after attending the 2026 National Coordination Meeting on Tourism in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Rizki said that in practice all data on licensing can be viewed in the Online Single Submission (OSS) system. However, because checks need to be performed on thousands of accommodations, the government decided to build a new system.
‘We are in the process of building a system called ePA. So, data and system, technologically, OTA-OTAs will also use ePA that can be connected to the Ministry of Tourism, while ensuring data confidentiality,’ he said.
In addition, the Ministry of Tourism is encouraging all accommodation operators to register their business licences in accordance with the law in force. Going forward, all business licence numbers owned by accommodations will be displayed on the online booking platforms progressively.
This is expected to facilitate government tracking of operators who do not comply with the rules. The policy, Rizki said, is already in place in Japan and Australia.
He noted that in March 2026, the ministry had observed a rising trend in licensing of villa managers. According to Rizki, the increase was triggered by information that began to be heard directly by the owners.
One area named by Rizki as seeing an increase in licensing data was Bali.
Rizki said to improve compliance among accommodation owners, the government would run a pilot project focused on five destinations: Bali, DKI Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Java and NTB.
In the near term, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana said she would also meet with OTA operators to discuss the issue.
The Ministry of Tourism also urges all OTA operators to establish official offices in Indonesia.
At the same event, Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana stated that as of 13 May 2026, more than 100,000 accommodation businesses were registered in OSS, up 45.4% since the initiative began on 31 March last year. However, more than 470,000 accommodations still do not have a business licence.
One approach she mentioned to address the problem is to host a coaching clinic programme that provides training and strategic mentoring for tourism sector operators.
The Ministry of Tourism will assist all operators, especially accommodations, in arranging the registration of a Nomor Induk Berusaha (NIB) and risk-based licencing.
‘This is a collective task to improve it,’ said Widiyanti.