Bali Could Soon Ban All New Hotels, Villas and Nightclubs, Canada Reviews

Bali is one of the world’s most renowned tropical getaways, with boundless unique things to do. Does watching sunrises atop the mountains or hanging out with monkeys sound fun? Of course it does – check out our roundup of the island’s best activities here. 

However, it won’t surprise you to learn the island has been grappling with overtourism for quite some time. Visitor numbers have surged since Bali reopened after the pandemic, and in the first half of this year, 2.9 million people arrived in Bali airport, which is 65 percent of Indonesia’s total. 

Local authorities have already taken steps to curb the impacts of tourism, but a potential new measure has just been announced: a ban on new hotels. Along with caps on new villas and nightclubs, too, a senior ministry official announced the measure to manage the overdevelopment of land, according to CNN. 

The timeline of the ban is still being discussed, but it’s thought the restriction could last up to 10 years. In 2019, Bali had 507 hotels, but as of 2023 there were 541, a speedy increase of 34 in just four years (including the pandemic) – you can see why they’re keen to press pause. Stay tuned for more updates on when the timeline is confirmed. 

More on overtourism in Bali

Bali has been taking steps to reform tourism for a while now. There have been bans on tourists renting motorbikes and climbing Bali’s mountains, and the introduction of a taskforce to control unruly tourist behaviour, as well as a potential tourist tax. 

Did you see that two more European capitals are banning holiday lets?

Plus: The world’s best island-hopping destinations, revealed. 

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