Pemuteran village successful in boosting tourism

Pemuteran village successful in boosting tourism

By Alpha Savitri

BULELENG, North Bali (JP): Prior to the 1990s, Pemuteran was
one of Bali's poorest villages but not anymore. Not only have the
villagers successfully made their village more attractive but
also more prosperous thanks to tourism.

Pemuteran, in Gerokgak subdistrict, Buleleng regency, is
increasing in popularity with tourists fond of meditating and
diving. The village has both a strong spiritual attraction and
amazing marine wealth. While diving addicts have formed an
intimate attachment with the coral reefs and beautiful fish,
others can watch turtles swim freely in the sea.

Pemuteran is really a haven for peace lovers. There is neither
discotheques nor other noisy places. If you are tired of your
routine, you can relax here. This tourist village is just three
hours from Denpasar. There are several routes that will bring you
here. It is recommended that you take the Denpasar-Bedugul-
Pemuteran route as along this road, particularly when you arrive
in Bedugul, the scenery is really beautiful.

As soon as you enter the village, you will see temples with an
architectural design quite different from other temples in Bali.
Then your eyes feast on the hills and later a number of bungalows
and star-rated hotels come into view. Some of these establishment
overlook the sea.

Pemuteran was virtually unknown among tourists until 1989. It
was then a dry and barren place. Trees were felled to feed cattle
and to be used as firewood. Apart from fishing, the locals earned
their living planting corn. Understandably, virtually nobody was
interested in this village.

It remained Bali's poorest and barren village until Agung
Prana, a tour operator, and now the Association of Indonesian
Travel Agencies Bali chapter deputy chairman, received divine
inspiration in the late 1980s to tap the hidden tourism potential
of the village.

An ardent practitioner of meditation in large temples in Bali,
Agung said that one day he felt as if a very strong spiritual
power had taken him to bathe in the sea off Pemuteran. "It was
when I was doing so that it occurred to me that Pemuteran could
be developed. Many people could not believe that I really wanted
to develop the potential of this area," he reminisced.

It was when he was in the sea that Agung thought this area
would be very beautiful with a little work. Dolphins cavorting in
the sea every morning, and the rich variety of fish species and
coral reefs would be a great asset for the development of marine
tourism, he thought. He was also sure that this hilly area would
be good for adventure-loving tourists.

In addition, he thought, Pemuteran would also be the right
place for meditation practitioners as a magic aura emanated from
its many temples. Also, the village's natural hot-water spring
could be developed into an attractive bathing place for tourists.

As he was very keen on tapping the tourism potential of this
village, Agung sold his automobile in 1990 and purchased a plot
of land at Rp 25,000 per 100 square meters. Today the price of
land in the village is Rp 10 million per 100 square meters. "The
land in this village back then was very cheap. Many people even
refused a free plot of land in Pemuteran," he added.

Teaming up with a German, Agung had a jasmine-rated 12-room
hotel built. It was the first hotel in the area and before it
became operational he provided the villagers with a crash course
in tourism and English. He wanted to recruit only Pemuteran
villagers for his hotel. He believed it was the villagers that
had to benefit from tourism in this area. "I want to see them
have a better life after Pemuteran was been turned into a tourist
area," he said.

Besides this, Agung, also managing director of Nagasari Tours
and Travel, also carried out an environmental awareness campaign
for the villagers. It was the right thing to do because Pemuteran
could attract tourists only with well-looked-after and peaceful
natural and marine environments. The campaign was conducted
through traditional art performances like arja and wayang wong
(stage shows with themes from shadow puppet stories) with which
Balinese are very close.

Thanks to this campaign, local people no longer fell trees at
will. They no longer use explosives when fishing, unlike
elsewhere across the country. The campaign has made them
understand that an explosion will damage the coral reefs, the
habitat of fish and other marine biota.

Agung has encouraged the entire village to contribute ideas
for the development of tourism which may improve the welfare of
the home-base society. They become increasingly aware that they
must improve their lot. So they have invited marine-related
businesses to operate here on the condition that part of the
profit must be set aside for the village and that the workers
must be recruited from among the villagers.

A change has now taken place in this village. Villagers
formerly only good at growing corn and fishing are now actively
engaged in the tourism sector. Pemuteran can now boast diving
operators employing some of the village's young people as diving
guides. These young people have joined intensive training
programs carried out by the Association of Balinese Marine-
Related Tour Operators.

The association's chairman, Yos Amerta, said, "They have been
taught many subjects such as practical diving knowledge, how to
act in an emergency and some knowledge about coral reefs and
ecology."

Pemuteran is now on Bali's list of tourist destinations. It
has a one star-rated hotel and a number of jasmine-rated hotels
as well as cottages. A plan has also been made to build a Marine
Club, a mega-tourism project with some of the shares owned by the
village.

Pemuteran village chief, Mayan Werta, admitted that tourism
development involving locals has encouraged the villagers to
guard their own environment, including a custom prevailing to
impose fines on anyone damaging th marine and forest environment.

"The fine is small but those damaging the environment will be
embarrassed because they will be tried in a banjar (village
association) meeting," he said.

Villagers voluntarily take turns keeping watch over the sea
territory of Pemuteran. A custom elder, I Wayan Siram, said,
"Fishermen from neighboring villages often fish here and they use
explosives. The villagers are not happy because the explosives
not only kill fish and turtles; they also damage the coral reefs.
If this situation is allowed to continue, there will be nothing
that the sea here can sell."

Even turtles can lay eggs peacefully in the sands of Pemuteran
beach. "We have provided a place where turtles can be bred in
captivity. When they are old enough, these young turtles will be
taken back to the sea, their original habitat," he said.

Pemuteran is yet to be as famous as Ubud, Sanur or Kuta, but
it is good enough to reckon with as an alternative tourist spot.
It is a good example for other villages wishing to be successful
in the tourism sector.