Quintessential Bali Village Celebrates Major Win At National Tourism Awards

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Undisan Tourism Village in Bangli Regency in Bali is celebrating a significant win at the National Tourism Awards. Indonesia’s Minister for Tourism and Creative Economies, Sandiagao Uno, launched the Indonesian Tourism Village Awards earlier in the year. This week the winners have been announced, and Undisan Tourism Village has been awarded an impressive third place in the Advanced Tourism Village Category. 

Undisan Village can be found about an hour’s drive from Ubud and is one of the most pristine tourism villages on the island. Surrounded by traditionally managed farmland and spectacular views of Mount Batur and Mount Agung, Undisan Village provides visitors from around the world and across Indonesia a glimpse at traditional Balinese life. 

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During a visit to Undisan Village, tourists can go trekking, hiking, or cycling. Guests to the area can experience traditional farming techniques, such as plowing rice paddies with a cow and then take part in a Balinese cooking class, including herbal remedies. Other activities include the quintessentially Indonesian pastime of kite making, yoga, and learning about Balinese mythology. 

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Undisan Village is a well-managed and highly curated experience for tourists. It has won support from public figures such as Sanidaga Uno, who visited the area in August this year. It is not just the village itself that attracts tourists.

The surrounding landscapes are simply breathtaking. For any traveler seeking to see the ‘real’ side of Bali, away from resorts and internationalized holiday hotspots, Udisan Village makes for a great base. Hundreds of homestays offer a luxury twist on traditional Balinese rural architecture. From Undisan Village, travelers can explore the iconic Tangkup Waterfall, Goa Raja Waterfall, and the Bamboo Forest at Penglipuran Village.

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Delighted with the team effort that resulted in national praise, Undisan Tourism Village Manager, I Kadek Darmayasa Karang, told reports that he hopes the award will help bring more people to the village. He said, ‘Hopefully the Undisan Tourism Village can be more advanced and can be known by domestic and foreign tourists’. 

Karang explained that the organization had received funding from the government to establish more tourism models in the area and to increase staffing, creating more jobs in alignment with Minister Uno’s mission to create more jobs in the tourism sector during this presidential term.

The Regent of Sedana Arta told reporters that the budget will be spent wisely. He told reporters, ‘With the presence of the government, it will be much more powerful in terms of planning, development, and promotion…In order to increase human resources, we have budgeted more in 2023’. The area has been granted IDR 1 billion in additional funding. 

Undisan Village is also well known for its heritage crafts, including gold and silversmithing. During a stay at Udisan Village, guests can experience dance classes and traditional Balinese Hindu ceremonies and even buy locally made handicrafts. All of these activities caught the attention of Minister Uno during his visit to the village in August. 

Speaking at the time, Minster Uno said, ‘The Undisan Tourism Village has one of the best tourism village management [approachs] because it has prioritized community-based tourism that upholds the existing community’. 

He continued, ‘Undisan Tourism Village, which is under the auspices of the Undisan Kelod Traditional Village, still conducts preservation of the arts and culture, strengthened by their customary village regulation as well’.

He highlighted the impact tourism village have on local economies across Indonesia, which is why he created the Indonesian Tourism Village Awards. He explained, ‘In the midst of a pandemic, it is proven that the rate of visits to tourist villages has increased by 30 percent. When tourism suffers during the pandemic, tourist villages become the main option since [they offer an opportunity to experience] village life with natural settings’.