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NESCO’s decision to list Mt. Batur, in Bali as a world geopark has boosted the number of tourists visiting the area, an official has said.

“The number of tourists visiting Batur has significantly increased since it was listed as part of the Global Geopark Network,” Bangli Tourism Agency head Wayan Adnyana said on Friday.

Located some 60 kilometers north of Denpasar, Mt. Batur is an active volcano with a caldera measuring 10 by 13 kilometers. It is estimated that the volcano was formed between 23,670 and 28,500 years ago.

Mt. Batur was listed as a world geopark site on Sept. 20, 2012, and is Indonesia’s first international geopark.

Adnyana said tourists visiting the Batur area could amount to 2,000 people per day.

“Before the UNESCO recognition, we could not reach that number,” he said without providing figures.

He added that after the recognition, homestays and hotels around the area had experienced increasing occupancy rates. “There are also many new hotels around the area now,” Adnyana said.

The Batur Geopark Museum head, Desak Made Andariani, also acknowledged the positive impact of the UNESCO recognition.

He said the tourists visiting the museum were mostly domestic tourists while foreign visitors are mostly German, Canadian and French.

The impact of the UNESCO recognition has also been acknowledged by tourism players in Bali. Didi Suprapta, a resident of Songan, a village near the Batur Geopark, has worked as a tour guide for many years. He, however, has been offering Batur Geopark tours only since last year.

“Previously, I didn’t have a tour to Batur Geopark. But a year ago, I devised a tour and found many tourist were interested in visiting the park. Every day, people join the tour,” Didi said.