DENPASAR ~

Bali Governor, Made Mangku Pastika, reminded the tourism practitioners on the island about the culture of safety in anticipation of criminal action targeting foreign tourists.

“We often ignore the safety culture because we are open to the flow of tourists,” said Governor Pastika.

According to Mangku Pastika, the location of the villa or tourist accommodation in the remote area makes it vulnerable to criminal action.

“We urge the villa owner to apply for permits because they are generally illegal,” said the former head of the Bali Police.

He also asked the owners of tourist accommodation to place security personnel or guards to protect their villas.

“There should be a self – awareness related to security since tourism is vulnerable to security issues,” said the number one man in the Bali government.

Meanwhile tourism practitioners in Bali asked the police to improve safety precaution in the island area.

“We ask the police to improve the anticipation because tourism is very prone to security,” said Chairman of the Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) Bali, Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya.

A similar statement was also expressed by the Secretary of Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) Bali, Ferry Mrkus, that the anticipation such as patrol needs to be improved.

However, he realized that security is not only done by the police, but a synergy with the community.

“The police have been trying to make a breakthrough until patrols are further enhanced. Where there is a crime there is intention. It is very difficult to do security efforts our own,” he said.

He appealed to travelers when choose travel accommodation in remote areas to report to the local village officials.

This is to facilitate the supervision given the limitations the police have to oversee 24 hours in all corners of the village.

In addition, he expected that travelers use travel accommodations that have management and security standards.

Therefore, PHRI and Bali Police previously had a partnership for safety standard certification.

“PHRI have been working every week on Tuesday and Thursday for hotel verification. Later we will also be going to the villa for coaching and we will continue to do it. Bali police would later spend on accommodations that do not have accommodation security management system yet,” he added.