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Sustainable marine tourism on the rise, says minister
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu says there is a growing awareness among fishermen and coastal communities of the need to safeguard coral reefs and seaweed as an attempt to preserve the coastal environment
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ourism and Creative EconomyMinister Mari Elka Pangestu says there is a growing awareness among fishermenand coastal communities of the need to safeguard coral reefs and seaweed as anattempt to preserve the coastal environment.
'A resort in Pemuteran and a fishing community by the name of Les, both in Northern Bali, have developed sustainable marine tourism, where a tourist can dive and coral can grow at the same time,' Mari said Friday on the sidelines of the World Coral Reef Conference in Manado, which was organized from May 13-17.
She said the Les community used to be a group of fishermen who used bombs and poison to catch fish. But then they realized that such methods would destroy their own livelihoods.
In fact, she went on, tourists were asked to share their knowledge or skills with locals after diving.
'Foreign tourists would not only get the experience of diving in growing coral reefs but they were asked to give English courses, for example, to the locals, as their skill contribution,' she said.
In order to further introduce sustainable marine tourism, she said, the ministry was currently organizing a series of training programs that were aimed at promoting environmentally friendly tourism.
'All related stakeholders must contribute to this movement together. We should show support so we can develop this kind of tourism,' she said.
She said, among other things, the ministry was monitoring and assisting around 600 diving spots around the country so they could improve the quality of services that would benefit the environment.
She gave as example training for diving guides being provided by the ministry. So far, she said, the Raja Ampat diving resort was among the first to insist its divers not take coral home.
Imran Amin of The Nature Conservancy confirmed that the government had launched a series of programs to empower coral-reef preservation. However, he said in many places coral trading was still being detected.
'In many places, coral trading is still ongoing. This coral is sold for between Rp 10,000 (88 US cents) to Rp 50,000. The government should find ways to put an end to this practice or else the government's efforts to preserve coral reefs will be to no avail,' Imran said.
According to The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism contributes significantly to the global economy. Last year, the world tourism market amounted to $ 7 trillion while this year the market is expected to grow by up to 4.3 percent. In Indonesia, tourism is expected to grow by up to 14.2 percent, or an increase of 4.4 percent on last year's growth of 9.6 percent.
'Indonesia is a country that has benefitted from this momentum and within the G20 community has the highest growth in tourism. The WTTC has predicted that in 2014, Indonesia will achieve 14.2 percent growth in foreign tourists and 6.3 percent in domestic tourists. Tourism is expected to contribute 8.1 percent to the country's economy,' Mari said
