Komodo's treasures getting passed by

By Devi M. Asmarani

LABUAN BAJO, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Labuan Bajo, a small coastal fishing town on the northeastern tip of the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara and the surrounding islands which make up Komodo National Park all have good potential for those considering an investment in tourism.

It is a stopping point on the way to the world heritage site inhabited by Komodo dragons and is surrounded by captivating marine life, secluded islands and offers endless activities for lovers of the marine environment.

Yet the town of 5,000 inhabitants has so far accommodated the rising number of visitors in a low-profile and, most likely, low- profit manner.

In 1997, visitors coming to the Komodo National Park area rose to 29,000 from 26,000 in the previous year.

Seventy percent of the visitors flew to Labuan Bajo and spent an average of three to four days in the area, while the remaining 30 percent came by cruise ship.

There are only 20 small hotels in the town and its surrounding islands, including a resort owned by the national parks authority on Komodo island which is reached by a two-hour boat ride from the town's harbor.

The hotels are mostly of middle to lower quality with nightly rates ranging from Rp 15,000 (US$2) to Rp 75,000. One exclusive beachside resort, Puri Komodo, charges guests around $60 a night.

There is not enough accommodation for a place with such vast tourism potential.

"During the peak season, we have had so many tourists here that they have been turned away by the local hotels because there was simply no rooms available," one hotel employee said.

Paulus Boleng, head of the tourism office in Manggarai regency, blamed poor infrastructural development in the area for slowing down growth of the local tourist industry.

"Public facilities such as roads, communications, electricity and water, which are supposed to be provided by the local administration, are poorly developed," Paulus said.

Reaching the town has also recently become a problem, with flights to the town's small airport becoming ever more scarce.

The state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines, which used to serve the Denpasar (Bali)-Labuan Bajo-Bima (West Nusa Tenggara) route with Foker-27 aircraft, has cut its service from six times a week to four since the economic crisis first began.

Locals said that flights are often canceled, further reducing the accessibility of the area.

"In a week, I'd say there are only two flights into the area, although the load factor reaches 80 percent on average," Paulus said.

Many tourist groups have to cancel their trips because of the unreliability of the airline.

The owner of Puri Komodo resort near Batu Gosok beach, Hilda Kamdani, said she had not received any tour groups since May because of the unreliability of flights.

Set on a secluded beach on the northwest tip of Flores, the 25 hectare hideaway can only be reached by boat from Labuan Bajo.

It offers tour packages comprising of a trip to Komodo island and snorkling and diving.

"Recently, a tour group got stuck in Bali. Their flights were canceled two days in a row, they abandoned their trip here and I had to pay for their hotel accommodation in Bali," Hilda said.

Paulus said the limited access had slashed the number of visitor arrivals in the area to 10,000 between January to August, down from about 14,000 in same period of the previous year.

He expected visitors to total around 17,000 by the end of the year, slightly more than half of last year's total.

Environment

Hotelier Feisol Hashim, who owns the Kul Kul Group, expressed his concern over the local authority's role in conserving the environment surrounding Komodo National Park.

"When I first came here in 1990, my vision was that this was the future after Bali," Feisol, who is also a member of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association, said.

Since then, destruction of the environment has been terrible, he said.

Over fishing and destructive means of catching reef fish using bombs and cyanide are estimated to have caused 53 percent damage to the coral reefs in the national park and about 63 percent of reefs just outside its boundary.

Local fishermen complain that catches in the area are falling as the result of the arrival of fishermen with more modern equipment from areas such as Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi and Banyuwangi in East Java, who catch the fish for export.

Feisol said that development of tourism in the area must involve the local community and be aimed at improving their living standards so that they come to appreciate the value of the natural environment.

Feisol has invested over $1 million in various locations in the area. Prior to the crisis he faced bureaucratic obstacles and local resistance before finally getting the green light to build a resort.

But he then decided to delay development due to the crisis and the poor infrastructure in the area, he explained.