Komodo visitors mostly backpackers

KUPANG, E. Nusa Tenggara: Overseas tourists visiting Komodo Island to see Komodo dragons (Varanus Comodoensis) are mostly backpackers because there are no adequate hotel facilities to lure affluent foreign tourists, a local official said here Saturday.

Head of the tourist office in Manggarai district, Paul Boleng, said Labuanbajo, a main gateway to the island, did not have any star-rated hotels.

He said it was therefore not surprising that tourists visiting the island, about 21,000 during the first seven months of this year, were backpackers.

Boleng, as quoted by Antara Saturday, said Labuanbajo would have to undergo a face-lift to make it an attractive tourist resort.