Kemenparekraf Prepares Parapuar Park To Be A Tourist Attraction In NTT

Adyatama Kepariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif Ahli Utama Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif Nia Niscaya. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Labuan Bajo Flores Authority (BPOLBF) is preparing the Parapuar Park as a new attraction and an alternative tourist destination in the Labuan Bajo area, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Acting President Director of BPOLBF, Frans Teguh said, the groundbreaking procession for this park will be held on August 8, 2024.

"We hope that with the presence of (Taman) Parapuar as one of the new areas and destinations, tourists will have more options when traveling to Labuan Bajo and Flores NTT in general," said Frans.

Frans said, Taman Parapuar has a strategic location, namely in downtown Labuan Bajo. Tourists only need five minutes from Komodo International Airport and seven minutes from the Marina Waterfront area.

"So I think this is a strategic location that can be accessed easily and is at an altitude of approximately 238 meters above sea level. So the view is very challenging, we can enjoy sunset and sunrise," he said.

Not only that, this park also carries the concept of nature tourism in the forest. Thus, Taman Parapuar can become an alternative tourist destination in Labuan Bajo ahead of the trial of implementing periodic closures and the open-close system at Komodo National Park in 2025.

"We really pay attention to this conservation effort from the National Park and of course this is one of the contributions so that we can preserve nature and beauty, we try to maintain the ecosystem. We want to encourage this Parapuar to become one of the alternative destinations that can be visited by prioritizing local wisdom," he said.

On the same occasion, the Adyatama of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Main Expert of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) Nia Niscaya, added that the construction of Taman Parapuar is expected to make Labuan Bajo a choice of tourist destinations in Indonesia other than Bali.

Given that Labuan Bajo has now become one of the destinations chosen by tourists, both domestic and foreign tourists to Indonesia.

"Based on data from the Global Dystribution System (GDS), in 2024 there will be 4,137,720 searches related to Labuan Bajo and indeed Labuan Bajo is a complementary destination in Indonesia besides Bali," said Nia.

He said, in the period January-July 2024, the volume of the Labuan Bajo search had approached the previous year's figure.

In 2023, Labuan Bajo's search volume during January-December was 4,899,240 searches.

This year, the top five countries that have conducted many searches related to Labuan Bajo are Singapore as many as 285,000, China as many as 233,000, Malaysia as many as 231,000, Hong Kong 103,000 and Australia 66,200.