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Kapuas Hulu to host Lake Sentarum Festival
The Kapuas Hulu regency in West Kalimantan is getting ready for the Sentarum Lake Betung Kerihun Festival (FDSBK) that will be held on Oct. 27 – 28.
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Taken from airplane window, this picture shows a section of the Heart of Borneo rain forest conservation area in Kapuas Hulu regency, West Kalimantan. (JP/Severianus Endi)
T
he Kapuas Hulu regency in West Kalimantan is getting ready for the Sentarum Lake Betung Kerihun Festival (FDSBK) that will be held on Oct. 27 – 28. The event is targeting to welcome 1,000 international tourists, especially from Malaysia.
“The last event in Kapuas Hulu, there were 532 international tourists who came. This year we’re targeting for 1,000 visitors since the event is being supported by the tourism ministry,” said Kapuas Hulu regional secretary Muhammad Sukri Sulaiman.
Arriving in Kapuas Hulu, visitors will be greeted with local products and culinary exhibitions on the first day of the festival. There will be also be competitions such as chopsticks international competition, gasing (spinning top) competition, canoe competition and honey-drinking competition with 2,000 participants.
The finale will be held on Oct. 28 near the Sentarum Lake where singers Zaskia Gotik and Nugie are slated to perform.
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Travel agents in Sarawak, Malaysia are encouraged to create tour packages from Kuching to Batang Ai with Sentarum Lake as the final destination. “Kapuas Hulu is a conservation regency that is directly adjacent to Sarawak,” Muhammad added.
Betung Kerihun National Park and Lake Sentarum National Park are seen to have potentials to attract Malaysian tourists. “These two national parks are an added value for us here. However there are still many things that need improvement such as road infrastructure from PLBN Badau to Putusibau,” Muhammad said.
According to tourism minister Arief Yahya, in 2015 cross-border areas contributed 3.6 percent (10.4 million people) to the total number of overseas tourists coming to Indonesia. (asw)
