By: Haikal Fathan Akbar )*
Ahead of the international event being held in Indonesia, namely the 2023 ASEAN Summit, the Government of Indonesia continues to intensify promotional efforts in all tourism sectors in the Labuan Bajo area. The promotion is intended so that all eyes of the world can get to know the beauty that this region has.
All tourism activities in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and also in the Komodo National Park (TN) are certain to remain open as usual, even though there is an international level event being held, namely the ASEAN Summit -42 in 2023, in which Indonesia is lined up as chairman and host.
Because the meeting of heads of state as well as high-ranking state officials from countries in the ASEAN region was held in Indonesia, it was also determined that the Labuan Bajo area would be the region that would host all foreign delegation guests, which of course there would be many foreign delegations came to Labuan Bajo, then all tourism activities in the area were stated to remain open during the meeting.
The certainty of the continued opening of the tourist area in Labuan Bajo, as the Labuan Flores Authority Executing Agency (BPOLBF) as the local committee has ensured that indeed the area in Labuan Bajo will remain open as usual. The Main Director (Director) of the Labuan Flores Authority Executing Agency (BPOLF), Shana Fatina explained this.
Then, he continued that even though the actual implementation of the ASEAN Summit 2023 will only be held on the 9 to 11 May 2023, in fact the positive impact can already be felt in the entire Labuan Bajo area including the entire surrounding community.
How could I not, because the level of hotel bookings, homestays to transportation facilities such as tour boats has increased significantly. Shana Reports that at least for now, the increase in the number of orders has reached 50% (percent).
The data was obtained from the results of direct checks in the field, and that indeed all ships and homestays on the date of the 2023 ASEAN Summit were all booked by tourists.
Not only the tourism sector, but the Main Director of the Labuan Flores Authority Executing Agency then also hopes that actors in the local Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector in the region will be able to prepare all their flagship products to be able to welcome all the delegation guests. from various countries.
For the purpose of continuing to be able to promote the local MSME sector apart from the tourism sector in Labuan Bajo, then Shana appealed to MSME players to show their quality and quantity, so that tourists don’t buy their MSME products, disappointing the buyers and running out of them. product.
It cannot be denied that the event for holding the 42nd ASEAN Summit in 2023 is also the best momentum to be able to open the tourism market so that it becomes even wider. Therefore, the Tourism and Creative Economy sector in the Labuan Bajo area can continue to be promoted.
Shana Fatina then added that of course during the 3 (three) days the activity in Labuan Bajo took place, according to her, it was certainly capable of being a promotional event for how natural beauty and also the tourism sector belonged to Labuan Bajo. In fact, he believes that after holding the 2023 ASEAN Summit, many of the foreign delegation guests will return to visit Indonesia, especially in Labuan Bajo and will even return by taking their families and relatives to go on vacations and tours.
This is because indeed all parties cannot deny how natural beauty is in Labuan Bajo, so that once people see it, they will immediately fall in love with the natural charm possessed by the region.
The 2023 ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, NTT Province in May 2023 is expected to be able to trigger visits of up to 1.1 million foreign tourists to Indonesia’s super priority tourist destinations.
The target number of tourists visiting up to 1.1 million is in line with how infrastructure development including Jalan Bajo leads to Golo Mori which was inaugurated directly by President Jokowi some time ago.
The international world really needs to know how the natural beauty and tourism sector is owned by Labuan Bajo. Therefore, the Government of Indonesia continues to strive and encourage as much promotion as possible for all tourism in the region, especially ahead of the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
)* The author is a contributor to Vimedia Pratama Institute
