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Locals gear up to tap ecotourism market
In response to the growth of ecotourism in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), many residents in the provinceâs customary regions have now got involved in organizing and promoting tourism activities in their respective areas in the hope of attracting more visitors and improving the local economy
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n response to the growth of ecotourism in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), many residents in the province's customary regions have now got involved in organizing and promoting tourism activities in their respective areas in the hope of attracting more visitors and improving the local economy.
Many farmers in the Tololela customary hamlet in Ngada regency, for example, earn additional income by selling traditional souvenirs and providing tourism services for visitors, according to Manubhara subdistrict chief Markus Lina.
'Locals are now offering homestay services in their traditional houses. This service has become quite popular among overseas tourists, as they love to blend in with the local community by, among other things, staying at our traditional houses, harvesting coffee beans in a local farm or learning how to make the traditional tenun ikat woven cloth,' said Markus recently.
Located in the heart of Flores Island, one of the largest islands in NTT, Ngada is home to around 150,000 people. The regency is situated around 250 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Kupang, which is located on Timor Island.
Markus said Tololela hamlet had received only 500 visitors last year. That number, however, increased to 2,200 during the first nine months of this year, the success he attributed to a series of skills and management training sessions organized by the Jakarta-based Indonesian Ecotourism Network (Indecon) Foundation.
Tololela resident Felipus Dama, who leads the Linawaelengi Art Center, concurred. 'Until some time ago, we only played our traditional musical instruments during traditional rituals or ceremonies. Now, we perform them in front of visitors in exchange for payment,' he said.
To help develop the province's ecotourism potential, Indecon recently invited a group of journalists and travel agents' representatives from the country's major cities to visit a number of customary hamlets and villages in NTT, including Tololela, Gurusina, also in Ngada, Waerebo in Manggarai regency and Liang Ndara in West Manggarai.
'The tourism activities in the areas are independently managed by their respective lembaga adat [indigenous community institution]. Travel agents can communicate directly with them [to arrange trips],' Indecon director Ary Suhandi said.
Wahyu Aditya Negara of Jakarta-based Caritro Tour, one of the trip's participants, expressed his appreciation of Indecon's joint efforts with local communities to promote NTT ecotourism.
He also admitted that many travel agents in big cities had been reluctant to offer tour packages to the remote parts of NTT as they had to first run a thorough and expensive survey of the areas.
