Sleman, home of a thousands tourist villages<\/p>\n
Bambang M, Contributor, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
The district of Sleman has discovered a new way to increase
\nthe income of its residents -- turning its many unique villages
\ninto tourist attractions.<\/p>\n
According to Destha Titi Raharjana of Gadjah Mada University
\n(UGM)'s Center for Tourism Studies, the rapid growth in the
\nnumber of tourist villages in Sleman since early 2000 is due to a
\nchange in the interests of tourists, who now like to enjoy
\nquieter, more authentic and unique places. They also consider the
\ncultural and environmental aspects in deciding which tourist
\ndestinations to visit.<\/p>\n
G. Djoko Purwanggono of the Association of Indonesian Tourist
\nGuides echoed Destha's opinion, saying that since the 1990s he
\nhad found that many foreign tourists no longer showed a great
\neagerness to visit Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple or the
\nYogyakarta kraton (palace).<\/p>\n
\"They prefer to visit places where other tourists don't
\nvisit,\" said Djoko, who is also a guide for French tourists,
\nadding that village life and its originality could be an
\nalternative answer to meeting such a growing demand.<\/p>\n
To turn a place into a tourist village actually does not
\nrequire much apart from its having a unique potential that no
\nother place has. The more unique and exclusive a place is, the
\nmore interesting it will be for tourists.<\/p>\n
In the case of Sleman Regency, UGM's Center for Tourism
\nStudies has recorded some 27 villages that serve as tourist
\ndestinations.<\/p>\n
One of those villages is Tanjung, 11 kilometers north of
\nYogyakarta. It's one of the most visited places. Having 40
\nhomestays, the village offers the beautiful landscape of a
\ntypical Javanese kampong along with ancient rituals, exotic food
\nand daily agricultural activities.<\/p>\n
\"A group of Japanese tourists once came here to learn how to
\ncultivate rice,\" said villager Djamhadi.<\/p>\n
Foreign tourists, however, are not the only guests that the
\nvillage is trying to attract. Many domestic tourists, mostly from
\nbig cities like Jakarta, have also visited the village for a
\nsimilar reason -- a desire to taste the village way of life.<\/p>\n
\"Staying in a village to taste its way of life is the main
\nconcept behind developing a tourist village,\" Destha said .<\/p>\n
The good part of this kind of agricultural tourism is that
\nthere is no need to construct new facilities for the visiting
\nguests. Tourists want to see the village as it is. The original
\nlook of a kampong is all that the tourists want to see.<\/p>\n
Srowolan hamlet, some 17 kilometers north of Yogyakarta, is
\nanother example of a village worth visiting in Sleman. It has a
\ntraditional market building constructed in 1921 and a former
\nDutch tax office.<\/p>\n
Each tourist village in Sleman basically has its own
\ncharacteristics and specific attractions. In the northern part of
\nSleman regency, for example, tourists can enjoy villages that
\noffer agritourism attractions, including salak (zalacca)
\nplantations and cool mountain weather. Jambu, Trumpon, and Kelor
\nvillages are some of the villages that offer these attractions.<\/p>\n
Ketingan hamlet in the northern part of Sleman is just like
\nthe other villages in the surrounding area. Except for the fact
\nthat it has become a place where thousands of egrets nest over
\nthe last few years. As a result, foreign and domestic tourists
\nare now visiting the village to enjoy the amazing scene of
\nthousands of egrets leaving their nests in the morning and coming
\nback in the evening.<\/p>\n
\"The reason why we want to make it a tourist village is to
\nsave the environment. In order to do so, we will require visitors
\nto plant melinjo (Gnetum gnemon), the favorite type of vegetation
\nof the egrets in which to make their nests, said Haryono, head of
\nTridadi village, which includes Ketingan hamlet.<\/p>\n
Apart from their uniqueness, their proximity to Mount Merapi
\nis also one of the factors that has encouraged the establishment
\nof numerous tourist villages in Sleman. The volcanic ash produced
\nby the volcano has made the soil in surrounding areas fertile
\nenough for almost any plant to grow.<\/p>\n
In addition, there is the beautiful scenery on the slopes of
\nthe volcano as well as the mountain scenery all around. No less
\ninteresting to tourists are the cultural and social peculiarities
\nof villages such as Turgo, Kaliadem and Kinahrejo -- all of which
\nare on the slopes of Mount Merapi.<\/p>\n
It is unfortunate that not all of the tourist villages listed
\nby UGM's Center for Tourism are yet to be fully ready to receive
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
Many of them, for example, do not yet have proper homestays
\nwith adequate facilities.<\/p>\n
In addition, human resources problems have also emerged. Many
\nof the villagers do not yet understand the concept of a tourist
\nvillage, much less how to market one.<\/p>\n
There are also cases where management of a village does not
\ninvolve the whole community. In fact, it is essential that such a
\nbusiness is managed by the whole community. Brayut is an example
\nof a tourist village that is managed without involving the whole
\ncommunity. As a result, the project quickly collapsed.<\/p>\n
\"No tourists come to the village now. This is despite the fact
\nthat many came right after it was officially opened as a tourist
\nvillage on August 14, 1999,\" head of Brayut village Sutarno said.<\/p>\n
Apart from the obstacles that many of the tourist villages are
\nfacing in developing agritourism, Sleman is still worth visiting
\ndue to the existence of the tourist villages.<\/p>\n
Therefore, it's no exaggeration to say that if Cambodia is
\nreferred to as the country of a thousand pagodas, then Sleman may
\nbe aptly termed the district of a thousand tourist villages.<\/p>",
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