The rapid development in Bali, especially South Bali, has raised serious concerns within the government. The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) is fully behind the proposal of the provincial government (pemprov) of Bali to implement a moratorium on hotels and villas in the South Bali area, underlining the urgency of the situation.
According to Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, the government is designing a moratorium policy on hotel and villa construction in Bali.
Sandiaga Uno emphasized that the moratorium will be applied in areas that are already crowded and saturated.
The main target is the South Bali area because a number of tourist destinations are starting to be crowded with development, making the situation unsafe and uncomfortable for tourists.
“We are continuing to echo this moratorium, socialize it, before later getting approval through a limited meeting mechanism,” said the man who is familiarly called Sandi in The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno held by hybrid in Jakarta, Monday, September 9, 2024.
This step was taken because several tourist destinations began to be crowded with development and made the situation unsafe and comfortable for tourists.
Sandi hopes that this can be supported by all parties. So that Bali and Indonesia tourism can be of higher quality and sustainable.
Sandi said the policy also applies to tourism accommodation facilities without sustainable aspects. The Minister has not provided detailed details about the draft policy because it is being drafted.
However, on that occasion, Sandiaga emphasized that the draft policy would be completed in the coming days and then discussed it at a limited meeting with President Joko Widodo.
“Together with Mr President, it is to be decided as a concrete step to ensure quality Indonesian tourism can open up business opportunities and employment,” he said.
The Bali area is increasingly filled with hotels
The Bali government has proposed to the central government to temporarily stop or moratorium the construction of tourism accommodation in Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan (Sarbagita). This moratorium proposal is for at least two years.
“The Bali Provincial Government has proposed to the Minister of Communication and Tourism a moratorium on the construction of hotels, villas, discotheques, and beach clubs in the Sarbagita area for 1-2 years. We want to organize first,” said Acting Bali Governor Sang Made Mahendra Jaya, as quoted from Antara, Saturday, September 7, 2024.
Based on data from the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), the total number of hotels and accommodations that have been classified throughout Indonesia reaches 29,005 units and 747,066 rooms.
Meanwhile, the number of Airbnb or accommodation businesses in Indonesia has reached more than 61 thousand units, of which around 34,000 units are in Bali.
Coordinating Ministry for Maritime & Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno said that a limited meeting would be held.
The meeting is planned to discuss three things, namely the Online Single Submission (OSS) licensing arrangement, which involves the role of regional leaders, stopping the conversion of rice fields into commercial land, and a moratorium on hotel construction in South Bali.
