BPOLBF Discusses Labuan Bajo Tourism Recovery with Tourism Stakeholders

Kupang (ANTARA) - The Labuan Bajo Flores Authority (BPOLBF), alongside business owners and tourism associations in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, discussed the conditions and challenges of recovering the tourism sector following the Flores earthquake during a ‘Tourism Talk’ session in the area.

The Acting President Director of BPOLBF, Andhy MT Marpaung, stated in Labuan Bajo on Sunday that the activity serves as a coordination forum to obtain the latest information regarding the post-earthquake tourism situation, while directly absorbing developments, impacts, challenges, and the needs of industry players.

“The information gathered includes the condition and readiness of destinations, accessibility, supporting facilities, and tourism business activities. This data will serve as the basis for formulating collaborative steps to support the recovery and sustainability of tourism in Labuan Bajo and Flores,” he said.

Andhy MT Marpaung noted that the forum is part of an effort to directly observe the development of tourism conditions post-earthquake and to identify various emerging issues and trends on the ground.

According to him, collaboration with tourism stakeholders is necessary to identify concrete steps so that tourism activities can resume safely and gradually.

In the process of destination recovery, Andhy stated that BPOLSB applies the principles of ‘safe before open’ and ‘ready before promote’. This means that affected destinations are not immediately reopened or promoted before undergoing a process of verification and monitoring of field conditions and readiness.

“Based on the results of such monitoring, we are mapping the condition of destinations, ranging from those experiencing light to heavy damage, destinations that are still temporarily closed, to those that have been declared safe and have returned to operation,” he added.