Episode Overview

In this STRA special episode, Justin Sun sits down with Kadek Adnyana to explore how Bali’s villa industry has evolved and why culture, regulation, and community now matter more than ever.

Episode Description

This episode is part of The Art of Short-Term Rentals in Asia, a six-part special series created in collaboration with Short Term Rental Asia (STRA), a leading platform focused on education, events, and insight for the short-term rental industry across Asia.

Bali is one of the world’s most iconic hospitality destinations, but behind the beauty lies a fragile balance.

In this episode of The Curious Concierge, Justin speaks with Kadek Adnyana, founder of Individual Bali Villas and a leading voice behind the Bali Vacation Rental Management Association (BVRMA). Kadek shares his journey from local guide to villa operator, and how Balinese culture deeply influences hospitality practices on the island.

Together, they unpack the evolution of Bali’s villa market, the risks of unregulated growth, and why sustainable tourism, quality standards, and community-driven regulation are essential to protecting Bali’s identity for future generations.

This conversation offers a grounded, local perspective on what it really takes to build hospitality responsibly in Asia.

Why This Conversation Matters

As Bali faces increasing pressure from mass tourism and unchecked development, this conversation provides rare insight from someone actively working to balance growth with preservation. It is a reminder that hospitality is not just about demand, but responsibility.

Timestamps

(00:00) Introduction and STRA series context

(02:01) Cultural roots of Balinese hospitality

(05:55) Kadek’s journey into the villa industry

(10:01) Why BVRMA was formed

(13:07) Challenges and achievements in regulation

(15:09) Evolution of Bali’s villa market

(18:21) Sustainability and eco-friendly tourism

(21:13) Community responsibility and cultural preservation

(24:42) Government, investors, and regulation

(27:06) Lessons for other destinations

(32:03) Building a sustainable future for Bali

(35:13) Final reflections

Connect with Kadek, STRA & The Curious Concierge

Kadek Adnyana

Individual Bali Villa Rental & Management

Bali Vacation Rental Management Association (BVRMA)

Short Term Rental Asia (STRA)

LinkedIn

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Justin Sun | The Curious Concierge

LinkedIn

Instagram

TikTok

Email: justin@thecuriousconcierge.com

Fourth Space Hospitality: https://fourthspacehospitality.com

If you know a hotelier, villa operator, designer, or founder shaping hospitality in Asia, feel free to reach out or make an introduction.

Hello everyone, I'm Kadek. Nice to meet you all.

Well, thank you for spending time with us today. I'm really excited to learn a little bit about you and what you do in Bali. let's start from the beginning. Before titles and all the villa work that you've done, you grew up on Bali. What did hospitality mean to you before it became a career? Was it something that you felt in your daily life? Was it something that was part of your childhood?

hospitality means for me it's how to serving people, how to serving others and how to make them happy. That creates in my mind that...

people who come to Bali or people who come to my house, to my daily life, they should be happy with me. That was my basic idea how the hospitality should start from ourselves.

Definitely. it seems like it's very part of the culture and ingrained in you because in Bali, feel like hospitality isn't learned in a training room, right? It's really part of the daily ritual ceremony and how people treat each other.

Yes.

Yeah, true. We have ceremony, culture, tradition, everything based on how to make the harmony. So to make harmony, we have to start from smile. So when you see people in Bali, they always smile every time and then start their daily life by smiling. For me, is starting

of the hospitality.

I love that. So I would love to

learn a little bit about you. You you began your journey in tourism, first training as a guide, then moving into guest relations and other hands-on roles across villas. what were some lessons from those early years and what really drew you deeper into hospitality?

Yeah, actually the environment because we are living here in Bali surrounded by tourism businesses. And I was guiding for several years, and I was asked by some tourists and mostly they were interested to invest in Bali. They want to make

a house, they want to rent a house and then starting to live in Bali when they have, retired I was thinking, on that moment, why don't I make a company that is serving, villa rental,

they were asking for help. How do they find property or something like this? then those kind of requests lead me to start the business.

there are so many resort in Bali. big resort, a big hotels, five star hotel.

Mm.

And many people like to go to a five-star hotel. No one interested in Bungalow or in a private house and they didn't know about that. And starting from my era, many people interested in staying in a private

Got it. Interesting.

Clearly there was a lot of interest from all the different clients and guests that you were helping and serving, but was there a defining moment where you saw that gap?

I was inspired by a company in Bali. I saw so many properties were built they need management. They need company to organize the marketing, organize the...

internal staff like housekeeping and not the same like people working in five-star hotel but the people who are working in a private house must able to

work all in one butler, chef, housekeeping, All in one person must be able to do that and I was thinking, in the future there must be opportunity to create a company

to provide this kind of ability and to support those properties. I was thinking, I'm very confident on that moment to build up my own company

Given your experience as a villa manager, having worked on many, villas previously and now focused on individual Bali villas, how has that journey been for you?

Yeah.

You started with a couple homes and now with, multiple properties and I'm sure a large team. It must be incredible to see the growth of not only your company, but also yourself having seen the landscape grow from zero to which we all know today, Bali is crazy insane with the short-term rental industry. How has that been for you?

Yeah.

the villa industry in Bali, from the beginning, have already shown that will be a big business because...

many people looking for a private house.

I was thinking that one day in Bali, not more than 10 years, we'll be developing a lot of properties like this. We'll develop in every tourism spot starting from Seminyak and then Ubud, Canggu and...

And nowadays, in every village, have a private home for rentals. to the culture and then regarding to the situation in Bali with this industry.

some of them ruining the culture, ruining the environment, ruining the nature. So it is the risk that we face at the moment. And many Balinese are losing nice rice field.

nice environment and more building now than a green area.

is the

Well, I would love to actually

learn a little bit more on that because it's very interesting to hear your perspective. you have been championing through BVRMA, Bali Vacation Rental Management Association. So maybe let's talk about how that came to life. You know, you currently help and unite hundreds of villa owners and managers under one association, which

Yes.

Yeah.

If you know Bali, it's no small task. So how did BVRMA actually begin and how did you start working with them?

Yeah, it was started from a problem to many problems. We saw a lot of villas in Bali are built without any permit and they were built in a green area. They were built by

You

design that were not in line with the culture, not in line with the environment. And many scammers around many things that really not level of good service.

where the quality tourism is at risk issues about traffic.

issue of safety, rubbish, so many issues, facing by a small Bali. Not many people care about this. as a Balinese were

having a feeling that if we don't move now, make a social action, then we will not see Bali anymore in five to 10 years to be still sustained like now. Now it's already, ruined by those situation.

If we don't make a social movement, then nobody will care about Bali. My analogy is like, where a swan having a gold egg. People only looking for their eggs but not taking care of the swan itself.

So then one day the swan will not be alive anymore, then the egg will not be able to produce anymore, No people will come to Bali and Bali will really be off from everything. Balinese people

income is coming from tourism. I think it's already now 80 % of Balinese people are, relying on tourism industry. We don't have any...

gold mining We only have tourism, so we have to take care of this. So that's why I'm thinking that together to collect those companies who care about Bali in the future, So I collect them who are having

commitment to take care Bali in better way. So I was on that moment, I was spreading those ideas between

Mm.

friends and also industries and social media and many people were interested in my ideas. Why don't we make ⁓ one organization that really cares about this situation? We started from a small thing how to...

Mm.

prevent the scammer. On that moment it was so many criminals that people were used to book property in Bali, and when they come the villa does not exist there.

It was scammed by, people from outside or local people, we don't know. we reported to the police, to the government and they didn't respond. So I was thinking why they didn't respond. if we stop based on our company, no...

government will listen to our protest, to our request, But when we gather, then we have power to talk, power to move, to make the government work, to make the rule, to be able to...

take action. the government like to make rule but they never take action. So sometimes we have to move them to push them to work. So we use this organization to make them work.

Hmm.

I put it in a slogan called NELSES so in this organization we can do NELSES networking learning solution and the last sustainability so

this organization have to be able to create network. Network between the same industry, to the world networking.

like ITB Asia,

we could make a promotion.

abroad. Maybe Asia, maybe Berlin, maybe in Mata fair,

from that networking, we saw that a big opportunity to build up a connection business to business, business to government, business to the market.

from local into international. And then secondly this organization can be used as a learning center. where we can invite people to teach us how to gain the

competition for example, put our property in OTA, social

and also how to serving good quality management for villa industry we invite the expert maybe like monthly or

every two months to learn trend

So I'm thinking about that. sharing knowledge, people have more knowledge about tourism, about hospitality they can share in the group. So it was a nice thing to do.

Amazing. It sounds like a very

powerful association that you do everything from regulations to talking to authority to sharing information and insights. It's, a very important thing that you're doing. it's obviously grown to a very large organization today. What is, one or two top things that

Yeah. ⁓

you're really proud of in terms of the impact or the changes that you've made.

I actually am not mean to make this organization so big because it's difficult to organize afterward.

But what I'm thinking is how this organization be meaningful for the members.

we have our goal to sustain the island, the tourism, the culture.

people who are joining this organization should understand our goal.

the government want everything in one movement, it is not possible like this. the government should, taking action step by step, not one movement. the government must consider the business

from the investor, the business from local people. everyone must be in a right position to make everything better.

for example, don't close them but give them information first then after give them time to do the regulation, the compliance then afterward when they are not obeying the rules then

it is time for the government to close down the company, But at the moment, our government didn't do that. they just inspect the villa, inspect the property, and asking so many documents, and without any information.

Sometimes government just close down the company without any...

consideration. I was protesting about this at the moment and this is ongoing movement

I see, wow. Instead of making very rash, quick decisions that I'm sure some government policies or lawmakers want to change quickly, but sounds like you guys are able to change their thinking process and give time to everyone so that...

So what we call villa, including everything, including the service, the style of building, the area of the villa itself located.

easy to notice that this is a villa this is a hotel and this is a private house we were able to recognize that nowadays this is not like that anymore now the private house called villa and they are easy to

to list in an online travel agent OTA and become a rental property. from the registration, they are a private house, but then become a villa.

but without any services or ammenities nowadays so many unpredictable

Mm.

situation that the investors coming from outside, abroad, are only registered at the OSS, we call it, and they are already able to build a villa, to build a house. That's so easy for them to make business here in Bali. this situation gives...

very bad future for the villa industry because now people can build a house and rent it easily.

So they just make the business without any permission, without any license. And then those situations make quality of the tourism in Bali decrease.

Villa is not something that is luxury anymore, Villa is like now in Bali feel like a private home, mostly close to a guest house.

So the name of the villa is not proper anymore.

It's not our true villa. It's just a house,

basically. It's just a regular short-term rental vacation house. There's no standards, there's no villa services, and you're losing that quality. And also it sounds like everyone now is able to just easily change their home address into a vacation home.

And it's losing the quality, the essence of what a true Villa experience is. And it sounds like it's just kind of going downhill from there.

now people are really afraid of booking a villa in Bali. They are afraid to be scammed because sometimes they saw everything beautiful, but when they come, there is no service there. The facilities the security also is not standard.

I'm thinking in the future the government should also manage this situation because now the industry the tourism really in Bali become Big issue in the world like this year flooding everywhere and then

rubbish is not well managed and the green area is getting decreased and water is not clear anymore and so many problems. If this situation is not well maintained or well managed, really the tourism industry, the hospitality will not exist anymore in Bali.

Yeah, you're right. think without

the right foundations, sustainability is obviously an issue the environment, the ecosystem, people go to Bali for that, right?

Yeah.

we've seen this huge influx of buildings and oversupply, but we're also seeing a rise in the different types of guests, right? We're seeing people stay longer, digital nomads who are now, trying to have a family, in Bali and trying to stay longer. So how have these new traveler types

Yeah.

to Bali reshape the operations and expectations? Has it created more problems because they're building more stuff, they're trying to make more money, they're staying longer. What do feel about that?

Yeah, as long as the government organises the situation well, this situation or this new type of travel to Bali, I think it's very good for Bali

But the government at the moment slow respond and do not have blueprint what will be the future of Bali There are many digital nomad, people stay longer and building...

everywhere and this is not well organized. That's why now many people were protesting including the organization I'm asking. the government aware about it. Otherwise the tourism will, as I told you before, will decrease and people will not come to Bali anymore because the typical Bali is losing. The nature is losing, too many problems.

in traffic, in water, in littering and many, so many things

The key is the government should give this information clearly.

At the moment, nothing is happening. our tourism organization pushed the government to make the rule to take action,

Power of the organization, should make the government work. Justin.

Sounds like we have to do

more to really push the government to ensure that there's sustainability, What are some of the most creative innovations you've seen from local operators, whether it's from technology, sustainability, operations to actually help combat these issues that you're seeing?

So people

recycle, to compost from the rubbish, to make things from the rubbish. And this community, very creative. They make knowledge transfer also to...

to the community in Bali how to organize rubbish better how to keep water, especially groundwater, to keep

People are aware about how to taking care of the environment

without ruining nature, without ruining culture. our government is starting to collect tourist levy from one year ago.

amount of money they will use to take care of the culture and the environment of Bali and I hope it will be happening soon.

many people also developing the technology in Villa Rental. There are many program, to

teach people deliver the quality tourism to the community, to build up the ability of people who are working in the industry

practitioners come to the university, to the school to give them knowledge about how to build up the quality tourism in the future. many organizations are starting this movement.

Amazing.

education is very important, especially starting from early on in schools, since tourism is such a big economy for Bali. And hopefully that helps with the sustainable aspect of it all.

of course any fast growing market has a lot of growing pains as you've been mentioning.

So talk a little bit more about the realities, you the regulations, keeping this industry legitimate. You know, there's been a lot of talk about Bali cracking down on unlicensed villas recently and enforcing zoning rules. So what's your honest take on that? Is it progress or is there a lot of just pressure to build a different type of Bali?

At the moment, actually we feel that everything is too late. the rules were not obeyed by investors

but the government, didn't stop. When the building is finished, then they started to make problems. They started to...

ask the regulation, the compliance and everything. Everything is too late. business nowadays in Bali under pressure. investor are thinking twice now to invest in Bali because uncertain rule, uncertain regulation

In the other side of course, the organization is pushing to make a list to make the rule

able to organize the villa rental in better condition, We were pushing this movement before, but government a bit overreaction.

This makes pressure in our industry, especially in villa rental and villa management. Many of our members inspected

in one month inspector.

three or four times a month. It is not good for our business.

breaking the rule they can directly stop for example the zoning when they are building in a green zone then just stop it don't give the license but for those who are compliance like 80 percent

The government should take care about this group They are keen to obey the regulation. So give them time.

the government should give us a

place where we can check which villa, property are legal or listed in Bali At the moment, we don't have this list.

We don't know how many properties are now or able to operate as a business in Bali. We don't know the number.

there will be a price war. So I think the government should start from small thing

make a list

That's very interesting.

It sounds like both the government and operators, are both to blame. some people are building without permits and the government isn't doing enough to ensure that

Everything is being built properly,

Yes, that's happened like this in Bali at the moment.

Yeah, so now it's kind of a

cat and mouse chase, right? but now it's really challenging given how many villas and the growth that Bali's having. you probably have sat across from government officials,

Yes.

What are their biggest concerns and how do you champion and advocate on behalf of your members and for Bali

Yeah, the government, are all actually open for input, any advices. So that's why I was able to give them input in a big meeting with governor of Bali and the leader of tourism.

they were listening what we are concerned about But take time

We invite them into our meeting and ask them to talk about the compliance. For example, a week ago we invite...

the government from tourism authority. We invite also the governor of Bali to

explain how the regulation applied for Villa industry. attended by 120 members

everything was clear stated by the government and now everyone have reference that this type of compliance

to operate the villa. So everyone now have the reference and soon we will upload the YouTube we recorded this

compliance explanation becomes a reference for everyone who is looking for the information about complete compliance.

everyone were confused and everyone were complaining about the situation based on this meeting with our government, we are now having clear information about

business, their property to follow the regulation. I think it's good start

That sounds great.

there's a lot of movement. There's a lot of progress, it seems. Hopefully this recording provides a lot of clarity for anyone trying to enter the short-term rental space in Bali. So,

It's obvious that you're balancing many worlds, You're focused on your business, culture, regulation, and people. let's zoom out a little bit and look at how Bali's story fits into this wider, Asian hospitality landscape. Bali feels like a model for how local leadership like yourself can shape tourism from within.

So what are some lessons for other popular short-term rental destinations, for example, we have Phuket, Koh Samui, Da Nang in Vietnam. What are some things that you can share as to how to champion

for short-term mental players in your local jurisdiction.

from our experience here in Bali as a local, we have to keep our identity What makes the area or your area unique? Keep it.

Because without the uniqueness, the people will not come in Bali, we keep our culture, our nature, our uniqueness. This is the key of tourism.

the key to typical hospitality of Bali, keep what make your island, your place unique. don't...

let other people ruin it Sometimes people were thinking about invest, invest, invest, So keep it.

like it's the

power of fighting back to keep the localness and authenticity, and preserving whatever is unique to them.

other than that the

community has to be safe, clean and in good quality. to keep this level, then people will keep coming,

Definitely. If you look five years ahead from today, what's next for Bali's market? What's the next evolution you see coming?

Gen Z is looking for eco building, eco environment.

the villa rental industry is going this way. People are now aware about how to keep the environment, keep the nature. those reflect in our services and facilities we move

away from plastic and construction becomes environment friendly like bamboo close to nature.

we have some properties using this natural resources in Karangasem, in East Bali, they almost have 90 % coupancy.

I think in the future, people are looking mostly this type of accommodation in Bali

Amazing. very important to keep the authentic Bali experience. Building something that is nature-driven, eco-friendly, sustainable. before we wrap up, I would like to end with a quick segment. A few lighter questions.

Yes.

I have these rapid fire questions. Whatever comes to mind first, would love to hear your thoughts. What's your favorite villa or hospitality company in Bali that is not your own?

I found in Ubud there is the Kayon. It's really nice, environment friendly They really care about everything in

facilities also they use mostly natural resources.

funny enough, I actually just spoke to Adhiguna and he will also be on this podcast funny that you mentioned the Kayon, I'll definitely have to check it out very soon. another question for you.

⁓

is there.

what is the most underrated area of Bali right now?

I think is North Bali and East Bali. North Bali, there are beautiful landscape, beautiful area in the north of Bali called Menjangan.

And East Bali called Amed not so many people going there. the environment are amazing there. I mean in Bali, but mostly Bali area are...

everywhere are famous especially Canggu, Uluwatu and it is already well known in the world but those people in those place like Ahmed, Pemuteran in North Bali is amazing

Mm-hmm.

as you know, Bali hospitality is very unique and very special. What is one service detail you think perfectly captures the Balinese hospitality?

the way people are serving, the way people are talking, this is the way the hospitality is being transferred to local people.

Other people maybe they can learn from us but sometimes they fail to do this. Even from ourselves, from other part of Indonesia, they fail to deliver this hospitality feeling from typical Balinese people.

That's great. It's all part of the Balinese blood every every it's all the passion that you guys have

And now our curious question. If you had to start over and rebuild Bali's short-term rental community from scratch, knowing everything you know now, what would you do differently and why?

hahah if I could build it from the beginning, I will try to manage first the standard of Villa. At the moment, this standard of Villa has never been achieved because...

Nobody, even the government, don't take care, don't inform us what is actually the standard of the villa. We don't know until now.

we have to know the standard And then we put stars on it, either luxury or standard villa.

then We build up the quality. when we build quality, not mass tourism is coming, but the quality tourism is coming. It will make business clearer.

we should inform the regulation from the beginning, not after the building is finished.

we have to make a conservation area. Bali is famous with its culture. When everyone can build accommodation in every villages one day

the culture will not be there anymore we have to define which area is able to develop

This is very important for Bali. without this protection, one day, Bali will not be visited anymore

East Indonesia are much more beautiful than Bali but people keep coming to Bali.

because of the feeling. They feel happy, comfortable, healthy because of tradition, safe environment, and of course of the local hospitality.

hopefully, we'll continue to build and push to bring back the true Balinese experience for everybody. for young professionals in Bali dreaming of making an impact in hospitality, like you, what's the best piece of advice you'd give them?

young people have to be aware about what makes Bali unique, loved by the world. Don't forget to social movement, not only looking for money.

one more question here. for who want to learn more, how can our listeners support BVRMA's mission or local villa operators? Should they visit your website? How should they connect with you?

we have our website, social media. Follow our activities, give support whatever you can. We had environment care, activity for learning, activity for networking.

social media especially, we are active we have charity,

So stay tuned and support our positive movement to make Bali, sustainable

I'll link all your sites and social handles in the show notes below. And I can't wait to see how Bali continues to set the example for community-driven hospitality. Kadak, thank you so much, not just for your time, but for the clarity and the integrity you bring to Bali's villa community. You're really helping shape an entire industry from the inside out.

My pleasure, Justin. Please forgive my vocabulary. Sometimes I couldn't express what I want people understand my statement, my...

message.

well. So I don't think you have to worry about it. thank you so much, Kadek.