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Lake Toba to become '€˜world-class'€™ destination

The government announced on Thursday a plan for an integrated program to transform Lake Toba in North Sumatra into a world-class tourist destination by, among other measures, improving supporting infrastructure and establishing a special task force to manage tourist activities at the world’s largest volcanic lake

Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post)
Medan
Fri, August 28, 2015

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Lake Toba to become '€˜world-class'€™ destination

T

he government announced on Thursday a plan for an integrated program to transform Lake Toba in North Sumatra into a world-class tourist destination by, among other measures, improving supporting infrastructure and establishing a special task force to manage tourist activities at the world'€™s largest volcanic lake.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that poor road access to Lake Toba, located some 100 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Medan, made tourists reluctant to visit the lake, which covers an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers.

The government, Arif said, was committed to speeding up ongoing road improvement in the region to improve access to the lake and attract more domestic and foreign tourists.

'€œBy 2019, we are aiming to see a million foreign and 15 million domestic tourists visit Lake Toba. That'€™s only 5 percent of the national target,'€ Arief said at a national conference on tourism development in Medan.

He continued that the government was also planning to set up a special task force to better manage tourist activities at the lake. The task force, Arif said, would serve as a '€œnational council'€ and would be officially launched with the issuance of a presidential decree later this year.

Lake Toba is currently managed by seven separate regional administrations. The establishment of a single institution, Arief said, would help accelerate the development of local tourism.

'€œOnce Lake Toba becomes a world-class tourist destination, it will no longer belong only to North Sumatra, but to all of Indonesia,'€ the minister said.

Data from the ministry show that 200,000 foreign and 11 millions domestic tourists visited North Sumatra in 2014, contributing some US$1.6 billion to gross domestic product and $200 million in foreign exchange reserves.

Arief, however, described these numbers as '€œunsatisfactory'€.

'€œFrankly speaking, tourism in North Sumatra is currently not in a good condition. However, its potential is enormous. That is what we are going to develop,'€ Arief told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the seminar.

The ministry, according to Arief, has allocated Rp 4 billion ($288,000) this year to support the annual Lake Toba Festival and promote Lake Toba at home and abroad.

Separately, North Sumatra provincial administration secretary Hasban Ritonga admitted that the province'€™s tourism was currently in a slump, pinning the blame on a number of factors, from poor infrastructure to limited support from local communities to maintain cleanliness.

'€œAlmost all roads heading to tourist destinations across North Sumatra are in poor condition. Meanwhile, many people living around tourist spots are reluctant to maintain the cleanliness of their environment. This deters tourists from visiting North Sumatra,'€ Hasban said.

However, he expressed confidence that in the future, tourism in the province could progress well with support from the central government.

'€œHopefully, North Sumatra'€™s tourism will be revived, as our region has some breathtaking natural beauty,'€ he said.

Apart from serving as a tourist destination, Lake Toba has also become an important food source for local residents. The lake is currently home to more than 16,000 floating net cages (keramba) owned by local residents and entrepreneurs, despite a maximum capacity of 6,000 cages.

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