several why’s & how’s to building a retreat in bali

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By: Iva Tarle
Iva Tarle is a Croatian entrepreneur that left her job in diplomacy and moved to Bali. She is a founder of Gekko Retreats, online booking platform for vacations for mind, body and soul. The company ...
Intent, determination and passion are the three most important elements of building a successful retreat, just as more or less anything else in life we put our minds to. If your calling is in one of the fields of healing, body work or facilitating self-expression trough singing, dancing or other forms of art and you have a following of satisfied clients, creating a retreat on Bali is a wonderful way to tap into the abundance of high vibrations this wonderful place on Earth has to offer. We all have to make a living and doing a retreat is a great way to combine both by: a) helping others gain more clarity by teaching modalities you are an expert in that will assist others to lead a more fulfilling life in tune with their higher purpose; b) tapping into wealth and abundance while spending time on beautiful Bali. To simplify, retreats are a great way to transform your passion into a decent income. So what exactly is a retreat? Retreats are a popular form of wellness tourism, usually lasting for a week to 10 days and are targeted to make wonderfully empowering holistic trainings for smaller groups up to 20 people. Retreat packages often include accommodation, group trainings, yoga and healthy food. They are also super fun, and offer a safe environment to open up, allowing intense personal transformation with support. They also provide the opportunity for to create deep connections with new friends. Depending on the group and the budget, pricing for one person varies from 1500 – 4500 US $, and the profits could amount to 30,000 US $. Three Good Reasons Why You Should Consider Creating a Retreat 1. Retreats are Excellent Business Ventures According to Tourism Statistics Wellness is a major new trend in tourism with an impressive growth rate all over the world, taking up to 14% of the domestic and international tourism market (more than 439$ billion). Its estimated growth is 50% higher than global tourism! It sure looks like wellness is taking over! Wellbeing is becoming an essential part of lifestyle and most people understand that to sustain longevity and happiness it is essential to dedicate time and energy to health, sport, self-improvement and self-transformation. A retreat is an event (short term project) happening in a certain place at a certain time with several basic elements coming together. In order for an event to come to life, the name, program, budget, date and target audience need to be defined in advance. 2. Bali offers a unique blend of tropical surroundings, nurturing culture and wellness trends. Bali is a famous holiday destination because of its hospitality, unique culture, affordable luxury accommodation and tropical climate to name just a few things. In the past ten years, Bali, and especially Ubud, has becoming recognized as a healthy living hub because of the back to nature lifestyle, accessibility of organic food and growing international community of healers. The Balinese have preserved their customs and unique culture where devotion is performed daily trough offerings, prayers and ceremonies. The Island of Gods, with more than 40,000 temples, offers a unique high vibration atmosphere conductive for self-transformation and healing. Tropical living and a non-judgmental environment have attracted facilitators in various fields to establish their transformative work on Bali, supported by the famous Bali Spirit Festival annual gathering of body workers and new age musicians. Raw and healthy food trends and embodiment workshops are just some of the attractions available for a conscious traveller. A few words on the legal aspects of running a retreat on Bali. The rules of the Indonesian immigrant and labor laws do not allow foreigners to work without a working permit. Since a retreat is a short-term venture and it takes a long time and couple of thousand US dollars to process the yearly working permit, the immigration officials on Bali allows foreigners to legally perform trainings on retreats by requesting a short-term training visa familiarly called the workshop visa. It entails a permit from the foreigner to train in a registered hotel or a resort within the duration of one month. Visa agents can process such a permit for you for approximately 250 US $ in just few days. 3. Selling Itself – are You a Coach or Therapist and Have Your Tribe? Depending upon motivation, life-stage and interests, clients seek a retreat that fits their needs and as you can imagine this could be physical with a focus on fitness, surfing and yoga, mental or psychological with a focus on the meditation, NLP, or self-expression and detox trough the arts. So, how do you get clients to pick your retreat? There is quite a diverse offering and as a rookie retreat maker it is natural that you will face a more difficult time selling retreat spots. This entails investing in and marketing on various online platforms, building hype on social media, doing lectures and advertising 4 to 5 months in advance. However, if you already have your own tribe, tailoring a retreat to their needs could be a wonderful idea. For more information on Iva Tarle’s Gekko retreats and  on the nitty-gritty details of retreat building see: bookedin.net/gekko-retreats Read next >> best coworking spaces in bali