Bank Mandiri and the British Council, in collaboration with the local government and communities, have developed community-based tourism in diving destination Wakatobi, with the culture of Bajo Mola community introduced as a complementary attraction.

Reviving nearly extinct cultural legacies in archipelagic and culturally diverse Indonesia is worth considering when it comes to tourism development.

The revitalized ancient cultural legacies commonly contain local wisdom, which can be included in a tourist package that provides a '€œmagnet'€ that can undoubtedly attract more tourist arrivals.

Local wisdom taking the form of values, norms, ethics, beliefs, customs, indigenous laws and special regulations contain virtues that serve as guiding principles for the life of the communities.

Following the implementation of regional autonomy, regencies and mayoralties have their own authority to develop their regions, with several of them having far-sighted views by unearthing fading ancient cultures to keep them alive.

Hugua, regent of Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, for example, has created an old culture and local wisdom-friendly climate as he believes reviving local wisdom will allow communities to have their own character and identity.

'€œDevelopment in a broad sense should lead people to have spiritual and emotional maturity, which they take from local wisdom. This way development has an aim,'€ he said in a recent phone interview.

Wakatobi, located in a quiet remote island in eastern Indonesia, has long been recognized among divers as one of the world'€™s best dive sites as it offers a high diversity of coral, rich in marine life. Its name is an acronym of the four main islands: Wangi-Wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia and Binongko. The park has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 2005.

Alongside diving, Wakatobi has introduced culture-based tourism, with the Bajo Mola community, who used to be sea nomads, taking center stage in local tourism development.

 '€œLocal wisdom and values-based emotional and spiritual maturity will lead to a region having a charisma that will, in turn, draw people to come,'€ Hugua reasoned.

In developing community-based tourism, he said, his administration could not work alone as it required expertise, experience, capable resources, funds and other relevant aspects and therefore, he welcomed collaboration with Bank Mandiri and the British Council under the Mandiri Bersama Mandiri Sustainable Tourism Program (MBM-PB).

The collaboration established in 2013 allowed local communities to demonstrate their capability to participate in tourism development under local wisdom and resources-based value systems, which led to the birth of Lepa Mola (Mola Tourism Board), Hugua said.

Lepa Mola is a social enterprise aimed at managing local tourism potential and reinvesting majority (65 percent) of the profits for the benefit of the community.

Meanwhile, Lepa Mola'€™s head Samran described the challenges facing the community in reviving cultural legacies, '€œefforts have to be made to gather the surviving elderly figures to collect information on the almost forgotten Bajo culture. There are only a few surviving elderly people who have authentic information on ancient culture,'€ he said.

Samran said that under the MBM Sustainable Tourism program, the collected information on Bajo culture was presented in a workshop involving various stakeholders, including local figures, to discuss the authenticity of the legacy prior to being compiled in a written document.

He cited duata as one of the examples of a revived local cultural legacy. Duata is the Bajo ethnic group'€™s way of treating a severely ill member of the community, who cannot be cured through other methods, including medical approaches.

The ritual procession is presented in the form of a dance depicting local traditional ways of healing handed down from their ancestors. '€œIt has become a special treat for visitors, whether they are visiting ministers or tourists alike,'€ Samran said.

Value-added tourism

Local culture-based tourism has successfully complemented diving and snorkeling, Wakatobi'€™s major tourist attraction.

 '€œWe try to tap the tourists who visit Wakatobi to extend and to tap the 24-hour period that people have after diving to enjoy the Bajo experience and celebrate their holiday with the Bajo,'€ said Ari Sutanti, senior program manager of the British Council Indonesia.

'€œAfter diving you have to wait 24 hours before you are allowed to fly for medical reasons. This way we are trying to maximize the experience of tourists coming to Wakatobi, give added value to the tourism in Wakatobi that is mainly focused on diving and snorkeling and introducing tourism that focuses on the culture of the Bajo people.

'€œThis way, we are not at all competing with the tourism businesses in the area that mainly promote the richness of Wakatobi'€™s seas, but rather, adding value to this through collaboration,'€ she explained.

According to Ari, the program aims to build sustainable and self-reliant tourism, ensuring that the Bajo community are the principle actors in managing their assets and that they engage directly with tourists without intermediaries, providing tour guides.

'€œWe designed the program, facilitated the process and developed an approach to work with the community, the private sector and local government to stimulate community participation and engagement. We are developing the capacity of communities in five villages in the area.

The program introduces creative and productive activities in the tourism sector to increase communities'€™ capacity to manage tourism potential and income to stimulate village economic development,'€ she said.

Thanks to the collaboration, a jointly developed tourism package is available for tourists. With the package, tourists can visit and learn about the authentic Bajo experience, including dolphin watching and enjoying sunrise; Bajo cultural walking tours; canoeing and watching sunset and fishing with fishermen; enjoying traditional Bajo cuisine and star-watching at night, all guided by Bajo people.

For Bank Mandiri the culture-based tourism develpment is in parallel with the bank'€™s vision of corprate social responsibility (CSR) in which the Mandiri Community Pillar, one of its three pillars, is based on '€our care and heeds community development in one region by taking advantage of local wisdom and potential, which will lead to people'€™s self-reliance economically and improved prosperity.'€

'€We present the MBM-PB as our community empowerment program in a tourism and culture-oriented region,'€ said Rohan Hafas, senior vice president of corporate secretary PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk.

The culture that has been handed down from one generation to another is an essential element in forming the specific character of a community.

'€œTherefore, the cultural legacies have to be retained, appreciated and presented in a good package so as to make it relevant to the changing times,'€ Rohan says.

'€œIn the tourism sector, the cultural uniqueness and local wisdom especially that related to the maritime area can, surely, add value to Mola Village'€™s tourist appeal,'€ it said.

The commuity-based tourism development, with Mola Bajo culture as an additional treat, has managed to increase the number of tourst arrivals in Mola, Wakatobi as a whole over the last several years.

Data from Wakatobi tourism office shows that tourist arrivals amounted to 17,000 in 2014, a sharp increase from 1,500 in 2006.

Tourism management

Lepa Mola head Samran said the MBM program had greatly benefited local communities, especially when it came to tourism management because they gained knowledge through training and workshops that they attended under the program.

'€œIn terms of business, it has allowed them to explore the potential creativity in producing handicrafts. Several groups of fishermen produce marine catch-based handicrafts and waste plastics-based bags as souvenirs,'€ he said.

'€œPeople were not prosperous and now they can gain extra income. Many were unemployed but now the number of unemployed has reduced because they run their own businesses,'€ he explained about the impact of the program.

'€œAlso following the Bajo cultural information campaign, more young people are already familiar with the culture,'€ he said.

Regent Hugua hailed the program as having a long-term impact in which local communities'€™ mindsets were tuned into local wisdom-based tourism development, which, he said, was well structured and sustainable in nature.

The program has raised awareness among the youth that they possess a priceless heritage that they can unearth and take advantage of so as to allow them to find their self-identity.

'€œThe presence of Bank Mandiri and the British Council is a good facilitator of the actualization and revival of local culture,'€ said Wakatobi tourism office head Nadar.
___________________________________

Partners for Change

This page is produced by The Jakarta Post in cooperation with CCPHI Partnership for Sustainable Community. It promotes best practices in community partnerships. For more information, contact the Supplements & Supplemental Products section at supplement@thejakartapost.com.

Popular

Bellingham heroics edge England past Norway

Prolonged rolling blackouts squeeze small businesses in Kalimantan

Militarizing civilian space