Labuan Bajo Will Be Pressured For Sustainable Tourism

Labuan Bajo (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Acting (Plt) President Director of the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority (BPOLBF) Frans Teguh emphasized that sustainable tourism is a concept of traveling that has an impact on environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability for the present and future for local communities as well as tourists. "In Labuan Bajo across stakeholders have the same vision of building Labuan Bajo as a quality, sustainable tourism destination and world-class," he said, quoting Antara.Frans Teguh conveyed this when describing materials related to sustainable tourism development and investment opportunities in Labuan Bajo Flores in the 2024 Sustainable Tourism Investment Forum (STIF) activity which was held hybridly by the Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordinating Agency (BKPM) in Labuan Bajo. In the Investing in Sustainable Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities in Indonesia, Frans Teguh explained efforts to build sustainable tourism in Labuan Bajo are carried out through the development of human resources and involve the contribution of local communities, arrangement and management of facilities, application of principles, criteria and indicators of sustainable tourism, product diversification, visibility management, provision of local food commodities, and improvement of quality of cleanliness, security, and comfort in traveling. Regarding investment, he conveyed related to progress and investment opportunities in the Region The New Parapuar Destination that is being built by BPOLBF. He added that currently there are several investors who have expressed interest in investing in Parapuar. BPOLBF, he continued, continues to open up opportunities for cooperation both for foreign, national and local investors with the same goal of developing a sustainable and cultured tourism area. "Since January 2024, there have been two investors who have expressed interest in investing in Parapuar, namely Eiger Indonesia and Dusit International," he said. He explained that the interest of the two investors in the Labuan Bajo Parapuar area has been stated in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The total investment in the International Dusit is 15 million US dollars in lot 1.6 with a plan to build hotels and Eiger Indonesia of 1.2 million US dollars for Eiger Ceffee Development. "We continue to open up opportunities for cooperation both for foreign, national, and local investors with the same vision, namely developing a sustainable and cultured tourism area by upholding ecological principles and environmental conservation," he said. Meanwhile, the Director of the Promotion Areas of Southeast Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific BKPM said that the Indonesian government continues to strive to encourage sustainable investment to maintain economic stability and tourism is one of the entrances to the investment. "Indonesia is one of the countries that is still in demand "by investors even during a pandemic," he said.

Investor interest, he said, is shown from economic growth which is considered stable even though the world is experiencing a crisis. This condition is nothing but a direct impact of an easy and clear investment policy that has been prepared by the government to ensure the stability of the development of an investment ecosystem in Indonesia that is in favor of investors. "So it does not depend too much on the global situation and tourism is the main entrance for us to show our country's strength and potential to foreign parties," he said. For information, through this activity, the Ministry of Investment/BKPM in collaboration with stakeholders including local governments intends to create a joint understanding regarding the implementation of sustainable investment in the tourism sector, as well as promote investment opportunities in the tourism sector, especially the Labuan Bajo Super Priority Tourism Destination (DPSP) area.

Furthermore, conveying the latest policy information in the investment sector, as well as opening the way for potential investors who want to interact with stakeholders.

Thus it is hoped that it can encourage sustainable investment interest in the tourism sector, especially in Labuan Bajo.