Despite officially limiting the construction of new hotels in the increasingly overcrowded Island of Bali, the Provincial Government now confesses to be powerless to implement the ban…
DENPASAR- Bali, named “the Island of the Gods”, is slowly turning into the “Island of the Tourism Gods” as hotels are mushrooming all over the territory, a development which seems out of control. The Bali provincial government is now urging mayors and district heads in the popular resort island to fully obey the temporary moratorium on the building of new hotels in certain areas.
“District administrations should give [the moratorium] serious attention,” Bali tourism agency chief Ida Bagus Kade Subikshu said last Wednesday according to a report from the Jakarta Post.
The moratorium was imposed early last year by Governor Made Mangku Pastika, and covers areas in southern Bali such as Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar. These areas have been overrun with tourists and surfers with new hotels being built at a dizzying pace. That leads to land scarcity, rocketing real estate prices – including for locals-, a war on room rates and above all, a serious degradation of the environment. Southern Bali starts to be now better known for its inextricable traffic jams than anything else.
The government now would like to see development moving North which has been underdeveloped. Real estate owners are urged to consider now to move to that area of Bali, which also has a big potential for tourism but lacks the necessary infrastructure.
According to data from the tourism agency, the entire island has 2,190 hotel and other accommodations providing 45,408 rooms, however the majority are concentrated in southern Bali. There are 158 star-rated hotels, 1,036 non-star rated hotels and 996 cottages and hostels. The agency had not recorded the exact number of hotels currently being built in the three districts.
Despite the moratorium, new hotels keep popping up in Southern Bali, especially in the popular area of Kuta. To be blamed are regencies and mayors who continue to deliver permits for the only reason that they bring money to corrupted local officers. The Provincial Government now looks at ways to consider sanctioning district officials and real estate developers who will overrule the 2009 regulation on spatial zoning.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
