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Govt delays Komodo park price hike to January 2023
Following public uproar and local tourism stakeholders commencing a month-long strike last Monday, the government has rescinded the new admission price for Komodo National Park and postponed it until the new year.
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A Komodo dragon lumbers across a rocky beach on Komodo Island on Dec. 2, 2010. (AFP/Romeo Gacad)
T
he government has decided to postpone applying the new admission price for Komodo National Park in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), until Jan. 1, 2023 following an outcry from local residents as well as tourism businesses and activists.
The NTT administration has said that it would improve tourism facilities and infrastructure, as well as communicating the new policy in the interval.
The decision was made “following suggestions from various parties and on the direction of President Joko Widodo”, NTT Tourism Office head Zeth Sony Libing said as quoted by Antara on Monday. “The NTT administration is open to suggestions, including from religious and community leaders,” he added.
On Aug. 1, the government increased the admission price for the islands of Komodo and Padar in Komodo National Park to a whopping Rp 3.75 million (US$251) per person from Rp 200,000 previously.
The move aimed to limit the number of visitors to protect the natural habitat of the Komodo dragon and was based on a study by the Komodo National Park Agency, which recommended ideal visitor numbers of 219,000 per year for Komodo Island and 39,420 per year for Padar Island, southeast of Komodo Island.
Local residents and tourism businesses have opposed the drastic price hike, arguing that it would reduce visitor numbers to the park and thus reduce their income. Meanwhile, they said that designating Rinca Island, located to the east of Padar Island, as a mass tourism destination would place additional pressure on and undermine local conservation efforts.
Tourism service providers in Komodo National Park began a month-long strike last Monday involving at least 700 workers to protest the new policy. Among the rally locations was Komodo International Airport in Labuan Bajo, where police detained at least three protesters.
