Komodo's treasures getting passed by

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.