The plan to make Komodo Island a premium destination has been pursued after the government began looking for ways to limit tourist numbers on the island through ticketing.

Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority head Shana Fatina Sukarsono said the term “premium” was fitting because NTT, especially Komodo Island, was a unique destination, unlike anywhere else in the world.

"Premium does not mean expensive. It means authenticity and luxury. That is the kind of feeling we want to convey," Shana told a press briefing on Friday.

She said that increasing the ticket price to enter Komodo Island would be discussed in early 2020 with a team from the Environment and Forestry Ministry, and that the deliberation process could take a whole year.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan previously called for a membership fee of Rp 14 million (US$1,000) to enter the island.

"It was one idea, but we want to conduct a study to determine an appropriate price first, as we need to make sure the [ticket] revenue can cover the cost of maintaining Komodo National Park," Shana said.

She added that a number of other islands in the region would be accessible for "all types of tourists", while others, such as Komodo Island, would be made premium destinations. The plan was formulated to manage visitor numbers to protect the environment.

The current ticket price to enter the park is Rp 75,000 for domestic tourists and Rp 250,000 for foreign visitors. She said park maintenance costs totaled Rp 129 billion a year, but that the government only allocated Rp 33 billion.

With around 176,000 tourists visiting Komodo Island last year, three quarters of whom were foreigners, it is estimated the park received Rp 36.3 billion from ticketing in 2018.

Shana said the current target to attract 1 million visitors to West Manggarai regency a year was far from being achieved, with only around 160,000 visitors recorded so far this year. She added that once Komodo Airport in Labuan Bajo was upgraded to an international airport, the target would be more attainable.

The head of the Treasury Directorate General's NTT Office, Lidya Kurniawati Christya, said the Komodo Airport working unit would receive an almost threefold increase to its budget, rising to Rp 214.24 billion in 2020 from Rp 88.54 billion this year.

"Before developing tourist destinations, we must think about the transportation infrastructure to get there," she told the press.

The upgraded airport will be able to service 2 million domestic and international passengers, from destinations such as Denpasar in Bali, Jakarta, Darwin and Perth, Australia, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

The government's plan to develop “10 new Balis” is expected to increase tourist numbers, with the government targeting 20 million foreign and 375 million domestic tourists next year.

However, Indonesian Travel Agents Association (Astindo) president Elly Hutabarat said recently that high domestic airfares had made it difficult for travel agents to promote the government’s “super priority” tourist destinations, especially when international travel packages were more affordable.

She said that travel agents across the country had seen a roughly 15 to 20 percent year-on-year decline in domestic bookings for leisure this year according to rough estimates from industry players.

Direct flights to Labuan Bajo from outside NTT are only available from Bali, Jakarta, Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara and Surabaya in East Java, with airfares ranging from Rp 700,000 to Rp 2 million one way.

"Hopefully, with the expansion of Komodo Airport, more airlines will look to offer direct flights and the airfares will become more affordable," Shana said.

The Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority head also expressed hope tourists would explore other parts of NTT that were less known than Labuan Bajo and Komodo Island, such as Ende and Ruteng, which offer unique cultural and natural attractions.

To gain increased exposure, Shana said endorsements from international public figures such as Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio would also be discussed next year. She added that whoever endorsed Labuan Bajo needed to appreciate the importance of environmental conservation.

In Shana’s briefing materials, it was stated that Labuan Bajo would receive Rp 1.7 trillion in 2020 from various ministries including Rp 979.3 billion from the Public Works and Housing Ministry and Rp. 244.74 billion from Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry to support the government's mission to make it a super priority tourist destination.

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