Private villa managers in Bali have come together to create the Bali Villa Rental Management Association.
The organization is on a mission to tackle the rising number of illegally operating villas in Bali and protect tourists and local business owners.
The Bali Villa Rental Management Association was formally inaugurated by the Deputy Governor of Bali, Nyoman Giri Prasta, this week.
The Chairman of the Bali Villa Rental Management Association, Kadek Adyana, told reporters that 70 companies in the province manage over 1,000 private tourism rental properties.
He noted that by joining forces as part of the association, private rental villa operators can combat the apparent boom in illegally operating villas.
Adyana told reporter that he and the Bali Villa Rental Management Association feel that many of the foreign owned private tourism rental villas are operating illegally in one way or another across the province.
The creation of the Bali Villa Rental Management Association is a move to prioritised the safety of tourists and to help advocate for the commercial and political interests of Balinese business owners.
Adyana told reporters “We must be strong in Bali, how to make Balinese people and culture able to become the main pillars to strengthen tourism, do not let incompetent and illegal outsiders operate their business in Bali without permission.”
Research conducted by the founding members of the Bali Villa Rental Management Association found that the number of foreign-owned or operated private tourism villas in Bali was ‘rampant’.
The organization was formally established through Decree Number 29/28 August 2024 and its Business Identification Number is 1211240089749, though its formal launch was held in Denpasar on Thursday 6th March 2025.
Adyana told reporters that the organization’s findings showed that the highest concentration of illegal villas was found in Canggu, Uluwatu, and Ubud; three of the province’s most popular resort areas.
He explained “These three areas are very densely populated, if we calculated based on the guests who live there such density doesn’t really fit. Coincidently we conducted a survey and it turned out that there was an undetected community there that was engaging in illegal business.” Though he did not share specific examples with the media.
Adyana continued “We compared [travel figures] with the number of tourists and that did not match the occupancy that we had, whether they were staying in illegal villas without permits or actually had their own villas that we did not detect.”
The Deputy Governor of Bali, Nyoman Giri Prasta, told reporters “I have conveyed several things that we need now in Bali, one of which is regulation, with this, fake villas can be prosecuted.”
He noted that the Bali Provincial Government has asked for support from the Bali Villa Rental Management Association to make it harder for foreigners to easily invest capital into Bali specifically through the marriage system whereby foreigners who have married a Balinese person can gain access to land and permits more easily.
He concluded, “Foreigners must be orderly on the island of Bali, with this association we want to implement that anyone who comes to Bali must respect the customs, culture, and rules that we implement, we regulate them, don’t let be regulated by them [foreigners].”
In theory, the presence of the Bali Villa Rental Management Association will help create a central point of accountability for legally operating villa management businesses, whether Indonesian or foreign-owned and help create a better framework for holding to account businesses attempting to operate outside of the law.
By operating outside of the law, rogue private tourism villa rentals pose a huge threat to tourists. There is the possibility that the building itself has not been developed in alignment with safety standards, there is a high chance of inaccurate marketing, and tourists could turn up to a property that is vastly different from what they thought they booked, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Tourists are also legally required to stay at a legally registered tourism accommodation provider while in Bali and many holidaymakers naturally trust that all is above board at the point of making their booking.
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