Tourism villages could be the future of travel in Bali.
With Jatiluwih Village, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, having just been named amongst the best tourism villages in the world, communities are coming forward and expressing their intention to follow suit.
Tourism villages are some of the most popular attractions in Bali. Penglipuran Village, named amongst the best tourism villages in the world in 2022, was catapulted to global fame and now receives thousands of visitors every single day.
Jatiluwih is braced and ready for a huge influx of tourists following the big win, and it knows that the tourism village experience will be in increasingly high demand moving into 2025.
According to tourism leader Wisnu Arimbawa, tourism villages can play a vital role in defining the future of tourism in Bali while creating memorable and positive experiences for tourists.
Arimbawa also feels that the creation of more tourism village programs can help communities feel more engaged with the benefits of tourism across the province.
He told reporters, “Honestly, tourist villages, of course, also expect to share. Let’s share a little bit of the tourism ‘congestion’. Also, give us tourism cakes; it will be an equal distribution.”
He explained that many villages in Bali are already ready to operate tourism programs and that there are just four main criteria that need to be ticked off.
The first is to have a distinctive attraction like, in the case of Jatiluwih, the rice terraces, and the subak system; the second is accessible; the destination must be of easy access to tourists as well as offer places to stay overnight.
The third is to have facilities such as restaurants, local warungs, and the infrastructure tourists may need during their stay. The final goal is to have a management team in place who can oversee the village as it grows into a fully fledged tourism destination.
Arimbawa said that he is hopeful that demand for experiences in tourism villages will rise in 2025.
He noted, “So tourists not only enjoy famous destinations such as Kuta, Sanur, Nusa Dua, Ubud, and others, but they can also enjoy the atmosphere of tourist villages.”
Other tourism leaders have found that tourism villages are more often visited by domestic tourists rather than international tourists.
There are some pretty obvious reasons for this: the majority of international holidaymakers stick to well-known and ‘on path’ destinations and activities, and most tourism villages have not secured partnerships with international travel agents.
Additionally, most tourism villages conduct marketing in Bahasa Indonesia and do not have the resources to operate marketing campaigns in foreign languages.
In fact, in Bali itself, there are currently 240 registered tourist villages. Of course, there is the iconic Penglipuran Village, and now Jatiluwh, too.
Other popular villages include Taro Tourism Village in Tegallalang, just outside of Ubud, and Attack Tourism Village on Serangan Island.
In Badung, there is a Munggu Tourism Village in Mengwi District, and over in Klungkung, there is a Bakas Tourism Village.
One of the joys of tourist villages for tourists is that it is possible to visit for just a couple of hours or stay a few nights, depending on the length and depth of experience they are seeking. For example, Jatiluwih Village is a wonderful destination to stay for one night or more.
With an overnight stay, guests can experience the wonders of a sunrise and a sunset over the expansive rice terraces. It is also possible to explore the rice terraces and subak system to a greater degree than a simple day visit would allow, exploring parts of the terrace system not visited by other travelers.
Similarly, up in Pengliuran Village, an overnight stay offers guests the chance to enjoy an al-fresco dining experience on the village’ high street’ and have access to the village free from visitors in the early morning and late afternoon and incredibly quiet and peaceful evenings.
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