East Kalimantan has unique tourist industry

East Kalimantan has unique tourist industry

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan (JP): Adventure, ecotourism,
historical cultures and natural resources are East Kalimantan's
main attractions.

Formerly known as Borneo, Kalimantan is the third largest
island in the world and the native land of the Dayaks, whose main
tribes settle beside the rivers of one the world's largest
tropical rain forests.

East Kalimantan, which serves as a gateway to other
destinations on the island, is the most advanced province of the
island in terms of industrialization and tourism development.

With a population of around three million people, the
province's economic condition is growing fast. Various projects
such as oil exploration in Balikpapan and forestry in several
regencies have contributed to the province's economic
development.

The province consists of four regencies: Kutai with the
capital Tenggarong; Pasir with the capital Tanah Grogot, Berau
with the capital Tanjung Redeb and Bulungan with the capital
Tanjung Selor.

There are many tourist destinations in East Kalimantan, famous
for its natural wilderness and historical sites. Approximately 80
percent of the province's total area of 211,440 square kilometers
consists of tropical rain forests in which live a large number of
rare flora and fauna.

The life of the indigenous tribe, the Dayaks, holds the
island's valuable cultural heritage. The Dayaks still preserve
their rituals, arts and cultural traditions.

The 920-kilometer Mahakam River is located in this province.
Beginning from Gunung Batu Tiban, it separates the Kutai Regency
into two parts. Sailing up the Mahakam River to the foot of
Muller mountain, near the Malaysian border, one can still see
traditional Dayak settlements, with their famed long houses.

There are several other places in the hinterlands which can be
visited. Tenggarong, once ruled by a Hindu Kingdom established
around the 6th and 7th century, has now become the province's
important historical site.

The former palace of the Kutai Kertanegara Kingdom, located
beside the Mahakam river, has been transformed into the
Mulawarman Museum. Mulawarman was the most powerful king of the
Kutai Kertanagara. The museum has an immense collection of old
royal collection including excellent antique ceramics.

Conference

Balikpapan, as well as several other cities in the province,
will host the seventh Pacific Asia Travel Association's Adventure
Travel and Ecotourism Conference and Mart starting tomorrow.

The annual event, to be held Jan. 15-18, will bring together
adventure travel and ecotour specialists, as well as sellers and
buyers, to discuss and address current and future issues.

The conference, with the theme Nature and adventure tourism:
Megatrend or niche?, will further explore the possibility of
promoting 'green tourism'.

The Balikpapan Sepinggan airport has just been expanded to
accommodate DC-10 aircraft. A number of foreign airlines,
including Royal Brunei, have also opened direct flights to
Sepinggan, which records the busiest air traffic after Soekarno-
Hatta airport in Jakarta.

East Kalimantan attracted some 40,000 foreign visitors in 1993
with lengths of stay reaching nine days, while each visitor
expended about US$90 per day. Though amounting to only 1.3
percent of total foreign tourist visiting Indonesia in 1993, the
province has been successful in drawing both domestic and foreign
visitors. Indonesia received 3.4 million tourist in 1993, with
average lengths of stay being 11 days.

Chief of the province's Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications office, Ibnu Darmawan, told The Jakarta Post
recently that the city becomes an ideal location for the travel
association's program as it is located in an area which offers
virgin forests with a wide range of flora and fauna, beaches,
cave rivers, rapids and lakes.

The province has also become a Worldwide Fund for Nature-
supported Orangutan Reserve and Research Center.

"Facilities and infrastructures in the city have been up-
graded, including the construction of star-rated hotels and
public transportation systems," Ibnu explained.

There are currently 12 star-rated hotels in Balikpapan in
addition to 120 melati (non-star) rated hotels," Ibnu said.

Ibnu said that conference participants will be invited to
visit some of the major tourist destinations, including
Tenggarong, Tanjung Isuy and Lake Semayang.

Tanjung Isuy, 300 kilometers from the province's capital
Samarinda, is populated by the Dayak Benuaq who faithfully
preserve their unique culture and customs, including the use of
long-houses called lamin.

Another cultural tradition in the province is the Adat Erau
(Erau Festival) which will be held Jan. 16-21.

Ibnu said that the festival is usually held, annually, in
September, but it was postponed until this month to coincide with
the travel association's ecotourism conference.

Erau is a cultural tradition that has been held since the time
of the Kutai Empire, which involves customs, ritual ceremonies
and traditional festivals.

Erau was originally held at an inauguration of a king or
princess in which all tribes carried out series of
ritual ceremonies lasting 40 nights. At present, the festival is
only continued as an effort to maintain traditions. Although the
content of the ceremony has changed very little, it is now
shorten to last only seven days. The ceremony is now intended to
commemorate the anniversary of Tenggarong's regency, as the
former capital of the Kutai Kingdom.

The province which has a rich natural and cultural heritage
will likely become one of Indonesia's most potential ecotourism
centers, provided that all parties work hard to achieve the
target. (icn)