T

he Bali Wedding Association (BWA) has officially been established with the aim of serving as an umbrella organization for all legal, registered wedding professionals on the island.

After being inaugurated last week by Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, chairman of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), BWA on Wednesday held a launch event inviting stakeholders from the tourist industry.

BWA is the first wedding organizers'€™ association in Indonesia. It will be a new stakeholder in the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) and work under supervision of the Bali chapter of PHRI.

BWA chairman, Deden Saefulloh, said members of the association shared common interests and goals to make Bali one of the best wedding destinations in the world.

'€œTo achieve this goal, wedding organizers in Bali should enhance their professionalism to be able to compete globally, especially as the ASEAN free trade era is imminent,'€ Deden said.

'€œThrough the association, we hope to expand our network, increase quality standards and promotions in an integrated manner. We believe we can be better prepared to face free trade with this establishment,'€ he said. For the initial program, Deden said the association would focus on recording companies working in the wedding and wedding-related industry. '€œWe will associate with the legal enterprises and call on the unregistered ones to get their permits.'€

He added that many foreigners had also come to Bali on tourist visas to work illegally in the business, staying only for a few days to handle their clients before returning to their home countries. Some had even deceived their clients and run away with the payment.

Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, head of the provincial Tourism Agency, said that his institution fully supported the establishment of BWA to better organize wedding businesses in Bali, thus facilitating the authorities controlling them based on valid data.