From "Just Getting the Smoke", Terong Village Builds Its Own Tourism

BELITUNG, KOMPAS.com - Desa Terong was once merely a transit route for tourists in Belitung. The villagers felt no economic impact despite the increasing flow of tourists since 2008.

Terong Village Head Iswandi recalls that moment. Tourist buses streamed back and forth from the airport to Tanjung Tinggi Beach and Tanjung Kelayang Beach. Their village was just passed through.

“When Belitung’s tourism boomed, we as residents of Desa Terong, when the tourist buses passed from the airport to Tanjung Kelayang, from Tanjung Pandan town to Tanjung Kelayang, at that time we only got the smoke. Tourists didn’t stop, didn’t eat, didn’t drink,” he reminisced on Friday (24/4/2026).

“If at that time we wanted to compete head-to-head with Tanjung Kelayang Beach and Tanjung Tinggi Beach, we wouldn’t win,” he said.

The villagers began pioneering village tourism in 2013. The inspiration came from Desa Wisata Pentingsari in Sleman, Special Region of Yogyakarta. The concept combines nature, culture, and experiences.

“When we opened the website of Desa Wisata Pentingsari, wow, it turned out that the village tourism concept is not just about selling beauty but about nature and culture,” he revealed.

“Desa Wisata Pentingsari sells tourism packages for playing gamelan, making puppets from grass, to culinary experiences. Well, when we compared it with our research, it turned out we could develop that,” he added.

The pioneering was done without village funds and without external assistance. Infrastructure began to be built after village funds arrived in 2016.

The villagers then sold tourism packages. The activities are diverse, from hiking and eating bedulang to nyungkor or searching for shrimp at night.

The first group came from a university in Jakarta. The five-day, four-night visit generated a circulation of Rp 113 million.