Is it Me?

With a great many projects the the theory of profit is just the means to generate the real money involved in the wheeling, dealing and construction.

I don't get it either. So many new hotels in Lovina also. Not just cheap bungalows either. Some big developments under construction.I saw a big development getting under away in Sanur also.

Markit, you're not alone in feeling this way. The counterintuitive hotel/tourist gold rush phenomenon in Bali seems to mirror the crazy rise in asset prices around the world, with stock markets continually hitting all time highs despite crippling trade wars, coronavirus, slowing economies etc. It's like a world gone mad, where people are behaving and investing according to how they wish things to be, rather than how things actually are. The only thing I know for sure is that when the party does end, it doesn't end well, both here in Bali and elsewhere...

It's called money laundering!

Judging from your rather inane comment, you obviously don't know much about the subject.

Sorry Zimbo but Markit is spot on. The idea of money laundering is that after whatever process you go through there is clean money at the end of the transaction. In the case of building all these hotels in order to "launder" the money they have to be sold in order to get 'clean' money out. If the market is swamped with hotels and the tourist market is stuffed then you have little or no chance of selling the property and getting the cash out. Not so inane after all.

I don't know how money laundering works in detail, but I think it is a possible explanation. I have heard enough stories here that would make it plausible. Law enforcement is still week, corruption high and even though there have been some improvements in linking different government databases, the systems are not advanced.

The other element is the cargo cult mentality. In PNG when airstrips were first being built in the highlands, locals watched with awe as these great birds flew in and unloaded all kinds of goodies. So some areas people decided they would attract these big birds with cargo and built their own airstrips. I suspect that elements of this have taken hold here and the notion is abroad that if you want to get wealthy you put up houses, villas and buildings.

Wat do they say ,build it and they will come ,things will return to somewhat normal ,when not sure but it will happen ,we are an resilient people, as my dad used to say never lose hope ,it drives us ......

Does anyone remember 3 years ago when Bali was chosen No. 1 tourist target in the world by TripAdvisor (I believe)?Then 2 years ago Mt. Agung blew it's top and killed tourism for that year.If that wasn't enough then last year it was massive earthquakes on Lombok that stopped it dead.Now just when you thought it could not get any worse along comes a Coronavirus to kill tourism for this year... you could not make this shit up and still hotels are being build, renovated and designed - what am I missing?[/QUOTE]Bali is transitioning to a luxury tourist destination. The government is investing billions of dollars to make this possible. Between the Japanese hospital complex in Sanur being built, the ring road in the bukit, the Mall/Fish market/Beachwalk thing in Sanur, the DPS/Singaraja train and the trans Jawa - Bali toll road, there are a lot of big things happening on the island and happening fast.Normally, I would say a place like Bali is booming too long and what goes up must come down however, I still feel we are far from the "down" part. Bali is still Boom Town and where do I see it going from here? I think something akin to an Indonesian version of Singapore is an accurate representation of what we will get in 10-20 years' time.Sorry to all the Bogans that like to fuck whores and get wasted on Kuta beach at 10 am. You are not a priority anymore for the Balinese economy. Please step aside for the crazy rich asians.

What are you smoking ? I wait to see any improvements in this islands infrastructure with bated breath {sic}

As with many others I check Facebook each day for Mrs. Pomeroy's column covering the ongoing Covid stats, and can't possibly imagine Bali resuming tourism by July. The promised vaccine due from India is in limbo (notice the hordes clamoring into the Ganges yesterday in the news!), and the same day a Chinese official admitted that their vaccine product is woefully inadequate as to results.With a civilian population measuring somewhere around 4.5 juta on this island how in the hell does anyone imagine being prepared for tourists anywhere in the reasonable future unless wealthy nations start kicking in with some decent vaccine?

What are you smoking ? I wait to see any improvements in this islands infrastructure with bated breath {sic}[/QUOTE]Not smoking anything. I'm just looking around me. Last year they finished installing the underground electric cable network around the Bukit. My friend who is an electrician in new Zealand says this is some high-powered Japanese technology and you don't install these sorts of things unless you have big plans for the future. He could describe it better than I could but that's just one example:New hospital in Mas, Gianyar: Completed this yearRing road in the bukit: currently under construction in some partsNew Japanese funded medical complex in sanur: land acquired and project startedNew mall in Sanur on the beachwalk: currently under construction:Changing dirt roads to pavement roads: happening all over the Bukit as we speakThose are just a few examples but if you honestly think the island hasn't gone through any infrastructure improvements then you must have been living under a rock for the past 20 years.Also may I add the prices of land have barely decreased during the pandemic. At first yes, but now, they are back to where they were more or less unless you can find a desperate man in need of cash. But terms of how the government values land in Bali, that hasn't decreased in the slightest.Indonesian Singapore is coming. Just embrace it.

Not smoking anything. I'm just looking around me. Last year they finished installing the underground electric cable network around the Bukit. My friend who is an electrician in new Zealand says this is some high-powered Japanese technology and you don't install these sorts of things unless you have big plans for the future. He could describe it better than I could but that's just one example:New hospital in Mas, Gianyar: Completed this yearRing road in the bukit: currently under construction in some partsNew Japanese funded medical complex in sanur: land acquired and project startedNew mall in Sanur on the beachwalk: currently under construction:Changing dirt roads to pavement roads: happening all over the Bukit as we speakThose are just a few examples but if you honestly think the island hasn't gone through any infrastructure improvements then you must have been living under a rock for the past 20 years.Also may I add the prices of land have barely decreased during the pandemic. At first yes, but now, they are back to where they were more or less unless you can find a desperate man in need of cash. But terms of how the government values land in Bali, that hasn't decreasedin the slightlest.Indonesian Singapore is coming. Just embrace it.[/QUOTE]

What has improved here in the last 16 years is immigration in jimbaran with free coffee these days , on my travels the roads are about the same quality , around the bukit , the repaved roads are starting to break up ,as usual .There is an increase in empty property , with many hotels up for sale , all at reduced prices . My wife works in the property biz .I would imagine with increasing numbers of mutations , you wont see any numbers of foreign tourists for the next couple of years , Imho.

Another huge infrastructure advance in the last 7 or 8 years is Internet infrastructure with fiber to the home now widespread. Yes, I know the rats-nests of cables you see sometimes are not pretty - but it works.