Bali To Crack Down On Illegitimate Rental Villas For Tourists

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Tourism industry leaders in Bali want to see a crackdown on the number of tourist villas operating without the correct business registration documents.

The apparent rising number of villas operating outside of the law is not only a threat to legitimate business owners in Bali, but also to tourists, who are unknowingly booking villas and rental properties that have not been subject to the checks and protocols required to be operating as a legally registered business. 

Leaders from the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association have held a working team meeting to discuss the situation. They are concerned that illegally operating tourism rental properties run the risk of tarnishing the public image of Bali in the long run. 

The Chairman of the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association, Kadek Adnyana, told reporters after the meeting” We hope that the government and police can help us stop this practice by making strict regulations, so that it can reduce or even eliminate scammers in this sector.”

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He continued “Our tourism already faces many challenges, from traffic jams, garbage, to poor security issues in the eyes of the international community. If this scammer problem continues to be ignored, Bali’s reputation will continue to decline.”

The Bali Villa Rental and Management Association has proposed a solution to the Bali Tourism Office, that would see the association become the official verification authority for rental villas in the province.

Adnyana explained “We want to be the official verifier. Consumers can use the website that collaborates with the Bali Tourism Office, to book a verified villa. Agents outside the list [would] be considered unsafe and are not recommended.”

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On behalf of the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association, Adnyana communicated how the misuse of visas by foreigners operating rental villas in Bali is posing huge risks to the local economy but also to tourist safety.

With villas operating outside of the law, there is no guarantee that the villas have been built to Indonesian safety standards, nor whether the businesses are even legally recognized, meaning travel insurance policies would, in many cases, could be invalidated. These villas would also not be paying tax in Indonesia and potentially not employing staff in alignment with Indonesian law either.

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Adnyana explained that many illegally operated rental villas in Bali accept payments online to bank accounts not registered in Indonesia.

He shared that for these kinds of illegitimate business operators, “Bali is only used as a place to make money, while environmental and social impacts such as waste become our burden. We ask for strict supervision from immigration and other policy makers.”

Booking a private vacation villa in Bali is an ever increasingly popular choice for tourists.

While resorts and hotels offer a huge amount of amenities and appeal for many tourist demographics, for a growing proportion of Bali’s annual visitors, the appeal of a private holiday villa is easy to see. 

A private villa gives guests a sense of privacy and the feeling of being in a home away from home. High end private villas often also come with the option of including a private chef and nanny for those traveling with children.

The private villas provide tourists with a greater amount of space than most hotels and resorts, and by booking one or two private villas for 3-4 night stays across the province, tourists can explore a range of destinations during a two week vacation.

It’s not uncommon, for example, for tourists to rent a villa for a few nights in Uluwatu, in Canggu, and then travel north to Ubud. 

As travel becomes more accessible and easy to arrange in destinations like Bali more and more tourists are opting for a completely self-organised vacation experience, this includes staying in rental villas, driving themselves from one spot to the next, and booking activities directly rather than hiring a tour guide. 

The Bali Tourism Board is yet to issue an official statement regarding the partnership offer proposed by the Bali Villa Rental and Management Association.