Marine sector 'holds future of tourism'

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The future of tourism in Indonesia revolves around the promotion of coastal areas and the involvement of local communities in environmental conservation efforts, a marine tourism official said Thursday.

Currently a mere 10 percent of foreign and domestic tourists visit coastal areas in Indonesia, despite widespread international recognition of the country's marine attractions, the secretary general of the Indonesian Marine Tourism Association, Didien Junaedy, said.

He said the natural environment was the key draw card in such areas and that any developments made to attract tourists should not have a negative impact on the environment.

"That is why marine tourism should not be designed or developed to become mass tourism. If we made it similar to land-based tourism, which is mainly mass-based, it would be very difficult to maintain the environment," he said at a discussion on improving marine tourism.

He said in order to develop Indonesia's marine tourism sector in an eco-friendly way, the government would need to have a very sound regional design plan, which prioritized environmental conservation in coastal areas.

"The government must be able to control development, even if it means a quota is placed on the daily number of tourists allowed to visit certain areas," he said.

Didien said Indonesia could easily compete with other countries around the world in terms of marine tourism.

"The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is nothing compared to the reefs in the Wakatobi Islands, which is the longest atoll in the world. And Raja Ampat in Papua can easily beat the Caribbean Islands."

Deputy regent of the Thousand Islands regency Abdul Rahman said preserving the environment and improving infrastructure were crucial aspects of developing the tourism sector.

"We are still striving to bring electricity to the Thousand Islands. We have already built underwater cable connections for the purpose.

"At the moment people use generators that run for about 15 hours, which is very inefficient and also produces a lot of pollution," Abdul said, adding that a longer airstrip had also been built in the regency.

He said tourism in the Thousand Islands regency had contributed to a reduction in poverty in the area.

"People are not only benefiting from tourism economically, but they have also become more environmentally aware and they realize the islands' economic potential depends on the environment." (uwi)
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