Tourists planning upcoming trips to Bali are being advised to ensure that they are booking stays with legitimate accommodation providers.
The warnings come after tourism leaders in the province noted that arrival figures keep rising but that official figures on accommodation occupancy rates from registered providers don’t show the same shift.
In 2024, Bali welcomed over 6.4 million international arrivals and is well on track to have another record-breaking year.
With the island set to welcome more than 6.5 million international tourists before the end of December 2025, leaders are monitoring travel trends and tourist behavior to ensure that the Bali tourism sector grows sustainably.
However, leaders are noticing a discrepancy between the number of international arrivals and the occupancy rates at legally registered accommodation providers.
Bali Provincial Senator for Badung Regency, Wayan Puspa Negara, has spoken to reporters about the discrepancy between tourism arrival figures and hotel occupancy rates in Bali’s leading tourism resorts.
Badung Regency is Bali’s most highly concentrated tourism resort area, home to destinations like Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Canggu, Jimbaran, and Uluwatu.
Negara explains “Tourism in Bali is growing very fast, especially in the tourist accommodation sector. Many tourists now prefer to stay in private villas rather than hotels.”
He noted how private villas are fast becoming the accommodation option of choice for tourists traveling to Bali, with areas like central Canggu, Berawa, Pipitan, Tegal Gundul, and Seseh all seeing a sharp rise in the number of new vacation villa developments.
The Bali Villa Rental and Management Association (BVRMA) General Chair, Kadek Adnyana, has also spoken to the media about shocking revelations that the number of illegally operating villas is on the rise across Bali’s leading tourism destinations, with Canggu, Uluwatu, and Ubud the worst-affected areas.
The rise in the number of illegally operating villas in these areas is of concern to the local government, which ultimately does not receive the Hotel and Restaurant Tax revenue, but it should be seen as a concern for tourists and the tourism industry more broadly.
If private villas are not legally registered, it raises questions as to what other corners have been cut, in terms of building regulations, safety protocols, and business management.
If an accommodation business is not legally registered, tourists have little to no protection if their booking goes wrong.
Adnyana told reporters, “These three areas are very dense [Canggu, Uluwatu, Ubud]. If we calculate based on the guests who live there, with such density, it doesn’t really fit. Coincidentally, we conducted a survey, and it turned out that there was an undetected community there that was doing illegal business.”
Many tourism industry leaders in Bali are noting that many of the foreigners staying in illegally operating villas in Bali are longer staying tourists, though the situation is also impacting holidaymakers.
Tourism Professor Dr Putu Anom, spoke to local reporters to shed more light on the situation. He shared that the illegally operating businesses are often associated with foreigners who are illegally working on tourism visas; another issue that the Bali Provincial Government is committed to addressing.
He shared “These are cases that must be observed. And there are tourists who stay in Bali for a long time and continue to handle their friends. That must be prohibited, the government must be firm. Tourists who have a tourist visa are not allowed to do business.”
The Bali Provincial Tourism Office has scheduled a meeting with regional tourism offices and hotel associations regarding the discrepancy between the large number of foreigners currently in Bali on tourism visas but who are not recorded as staying in registered accommodations such as hotels, guesthouses, or villas.
The Head of Bali Tourism Office, Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun, told reporters “The Ministry of Tourism sees this trend of tourists being busy but hotels being quiet because there is news. We will discuss it, I and the deputy at the Ministry of Tourism will invite the heads of tourism offices throughout Bali and accommodation associations.”
Tourists planning visits to Bali are advised to do their research before booking any accommodation, especially private villas and holiday homes.
Booking a holiday rental home that is not a legally registered business in Indonesia could invalidate travel insurance, leaving tourists without cover if something should go wrong.
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LJ
Friday 2nd of May 2025
Illegally working as what? Considering how low the pay rate is in Indonesia ..what on earth are people doing there for work? They must certainly be from (even poorer) and more corrupt countries to be doing so.
Exp
Friday 2nd of May 2025
Who issued the permits for these new villas? If you willingly let people without KITAS/KITAP build and operate villa (one way or the other) then obviously expect to take the pain.
Steve bm
Saturday 3rd of May 2025
@Exp, it's other Indonesians helping the xpats get away with it by agreeing to use Indonesian name that's why I say to the Indonesians doing this ROB / STEAL everything from your tamu /expat if it's dodgy
Exp
Friday 2nd of May 2025
Why not look at why tourists stay away from hotels: 1) Insane rates 2) Pay for facilities that are not used 3) Most so-called 5 star hotels are 2 or 3 stars elsewhere due to the service level 4) Taxi mafia limit access there for online taxis 5) Many hotels are doing little maintenance and those wise to check critical reviews stay away 6) Many hotels are connected to noisy in-house clubs / venues with doff doff music. Nobody insist to stay at hotels with doff doff music, but many complain. When are the Indonesians going to understand this?
Boris
Thursday 1st of May 2025
This is not a new problem it’s be going on for many years. Many agents sell villas as good investments for years , but there are no regulations making them responsible to register villas sold as investments. The government has been very lax on this issue. It should have been regulated long ago. Billions of rupiah have evaded taxation most by expats but also locals.. It has resulted in lower occupancy for legally registered hotels and villas and resulted in price competition and generally lower tariffs, which in turn impacts the income for their mainly Balinese staff. Really a scandalous situation.
It must be very nice avoiding the plus 21 % , the income tax and the dozens of licenses that hotels have to regularly renew , such as the alcohol license.
Steve bm
Thursday 1st of May 2025
It's only been happening forever, 1, reward system dob in give incentives to dob. 2, take everything they have for the slush fund. 3, Knee cap them on the way to the airport. 4, Lifetime Deportations. Offer 2 million reward token cash in pocket for lokals in the know or disgruntled friends for successful deport no courts no detention on your way