Community helps Tanjung survive as tourist village

Community helps Tanjung survive as tourist village

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

It is easy to turn an ordinary village into a tourist destination
if it is already blessed with natural beauty, cultural treasures
and lucrative handicraft centers.

Creativity and courage are a perfect combination for the task.

At the end of it, the most challenging part is how to keep the
business on the right track so that tourists continue to frequent
the resort and shop there.

Tanjung tourist village in Donoharjo village, Ngaglik
subdistrict, Sleman regency, some 10 kilometers north of the
provincial capital city, Yogyakarta, knows how to bring success
to the region.

Officially launched on July 1, 2001, Tanjung is now one of the
most-visited tourist villages in the regency, with the equivalent
of 1,000 days of tourist visits there per year.

"We have a target of 1,250 days of tourist stays for 2005. We
are optimistic we shall meet the target this year," said Nugraha
Bayu Santoso, deputy chairman of Tanjung tourist village
management.

That is not wild optimism, though, because the village does
have something special to offer.

"What we offer here is a tourist attraction of special
interest," said Nugraha, adding that he earned an additional
income of Rp 150,000 per group visit.

Tanjung is designed as an alternative to popular tourist
attractions like Borobudur and Prambanan temples.

Tanjung offers tourists the chance to feel and get involved in
the daily life of the village's traditional Javanese community,
while at the same time they can also learn about local culture,
traditions and values.

For that reason, the rice fields that previously were only
used for agricultural purposes -- Tanjung's population of 1,600
are mostly farmers -- are now a tourist attraction where guests
can learn how rice is cultivated and harvested, before it is
finally cooked and served.

Traditional performances like Angguk, Jathilan, Pekbung,
Sholawatan, Hadrah, and Karawitan, too, are included to entertain
visiting guests.

People's houses, similarly, have been turned into homestays
where tourists can live and interact with members of the family
and neighbors.

"We have some 50 houses here that are ready for a homestay
whenever they are needed," said Nugraha, adding that the houses,
located in the hamlets of Banteran, Panasan and Bantarejo, can
accommodate up to 230 guests at the same time.

Another stunning attraction is the 200-year-old Joglo Tanjung,
a traditional Javanese house whose original structure is still
intact. The house was the residence of a former village head.

It still has the main parts that a traditional joglo must have
such as the emperan (front terrace), pendopo (hall), pringgitan
(special room to receive honored guests), and ndalem (main house
comprising of senthong tengen, senthong tengah and senthong
kiwo), longkangan, and pawon
(kitchen).

Senthong in Javanese literally means room, while tengen,
tengah, and kiwo respectively means right, middle, and left.

Apart from the main parts mentioned above, it has also some
additional buildings on either side of the house including a
gandhok kiwo (left-side building) on the left, a lumbung (storage
barn) on the right that has been converted into rooms for
tourists to stay, a gedhogan (stable) and a cart garage.

"These additional buildings are a symbol of the wealth of the
owner of the house. The more varied the additional buildings the
wealthier the owner," Suwarno, 75, one of the heirs of the owner
of the house, explained.

The joglo itself, according to Suwarno, has been "granted" to
the local community to be used and managed to support the
development of the tourist village.

The house is now open to the public to hold functions with a
Javanese touch.

With all these treasures, including the beautiful Mt. Merapi
as the backdrop and the Kali Parengan and Kali Gembeng rivers,
whose upper reaches flow from the volcano, Tanjung has everything
that a tourist village should have.

Yet, according to head of tourism division of Sleman's tourism
and culture office Juli Setiono Dwi Wasito, natural and cultural
treasures alone will not guarantee the success of a tourist
village.

Community involvement, and most of all commitment in running
the activities, from the management staff and the whole community
and the management staff, also play a significant role. "I see
this in Tanjung," Juli told The Jakarta Post earlier this week.

"I hope that how Tanjung manages itself as a tourist village
will inspire other communities that they could also be as
successful or even more successful than Tanjung," Juli said.