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anga Labang village in Borong district, East Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), is set to become a tourist village due to its wealth of tourism potential, such as the Cepi Watu beach, which is blessed with pristine, white sand.

“Many significant things in Nanga Labang are being further evaluated according to various criteria,” said Titi Raharjana from Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University’s (UGM) Tourism Research Center, who, along with UGM’s Consultation Council, held a limited discussion on the Flores Tourism Destination master plan at the East Manggarai Cultural and Tourism Office recently.

Titi added Nanga Labang is blessed with unique tourism resources, which are ready to be managed together with the help of the local community.

She said Nanga Labang obtained Rp 70 million (about US$8,200) in cash assistance from the National Community Empowerment Program for Tourism (PNPM).

“We initiated PNPM activities in Nanga Labang village so that it would be entitled to receive cash assistance to develop tourism. A number of other villages in East Manggarai regency are also being assessed to obtain the assistance from the central government,” she said.

She added the Flores Tourism Destination master plan is very crucial for tourism activities and that a number of ideas and aspirations concerning tourism are currently being collected.

The central government and Swisscontact — a Swiss non-profit organization that carries out projects aimed at reducing poverty in developing countries — have formed the Tourism Management Organization (TMO) in all the regencies on Flores.

“The diversity in culture and the natural beauty on Flores Island have incredible potential to be developed. There are eight regencies in Flores, which are being evaluated for their tourist potential,” said Titi.

The head of history and archeological affairs at the East Manggarai Cultural and Tourism Office, Tadeus Enggor, said East Manggarai’s mission was to develop tourism, in the regency in particular, and Flores Island in general.

“Many touristic and cultural resources in East Manggarai have not been fully developed,” said Enggor.

Apart from Nanga Labang village, East Manggarai is also rich with other potential tourist sites, such as Lake Air Panas (Hot Water) in Rana Masak; Gampang Mas village, Borong district; and the unique Lake Rana Tonjong, where the Victoria amazonica giant lotus grows. It is also home to the rare buaya darat (land crocodile), found in Sambi Rampas district.

The matter was disclosed by East Manggarai Cultural and Tourism Office’s Tour Destination Affairs head Damasus Ndama at the Flores Tourism Destination master plan discussion. He said the tourism office had made an inventory of the several tourist assets.

Lake Rana Tonjong is located in Nanga Mbeling village, Sambi Rampas district, some 3 kilometer north of Pota. The lake spans 2,200 square kilometers and lies in low plains surrounded by hills in the west, north and south and paddy fields in the east. The whole lake is covered by the giant lotus, which bloom once a year from April to May. The lotus are endemic to the area.

A participant at the Flores master plan discussion, Antonius Cangkung, said accessibility to the tourist locations remain poor, as roads leading to them are badly damaged; so much so that many people are as yet unfamiliar with the tourist potential in East Manggarai.

“Access to these sites in East Manggarai is still inferior. This is a major problem for tourist development in the area,” said Cangkung.

East Manggarai Cultural and Tourism Office secretary Ganggus Galus said developing and promoting tourism in the regency is the duty of every sector of society and is not only the job of the tourism office.

“The regency’s budget allocation for tourism, which is only Rp 2 billion (about US$235,000) is too small an amount to develop tourism fully in East Manggarai,” he said.

East Manggarai regency council member, Tarsisius Sjukur, said the regency’s legislators are giving their full support toward tourist development in East Manggarai by various stakeholders.

He added the legislators are also thankful to Swisscontact for its support in developing tourism in the regency.