Potential Of Mentawai Islands Tourism Village, Ease Of Access Is The Key To Continuing To Develop

Tourists visit one of the tourist villages in Agam Regency, West Sumatra. (ANTARA/Muhammad Zulfikar)

JAKARTA - The Mentawai Islands has extraordinary potential as a tourist destination, with natural beauty that is stunning, unique culture, and attractiveness that is able to attract local and foreign tourists.

One of these assets is the existence of tourist villages that can be the main driver of the local community's economy. However, to optimize this potential, accessibility is one of the main obstacles that must be addressed immediately.

Deputy Head of the West Sumatra Bank Indonesia (BI) Representative Office, Irfan Sukarna, revealed that BI has a tourism village development program in Mentawai Islands Regency. However, the development of the tourist village is still constrained by the difficulty of accessing the area.

"BI has a coaching program for tourist villages in the Mentawai Islands, but its development is still limited by accessibility constraints," said Irfan on an occasion in Padang, Thursday.

Although the government inaugurated Mentawai Airport in October 2023, until now the airport cannot be used by ATR aircraft with a maximum capacity of 78 people. This is a big challenge for tourism development in Bumi Sikerei, nicknamed the Mentawai Islands.

According to Irfan, the ease of access to the Mentawai Islands will be the main key in advancing tourist villages and increasing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the region.

One of BI's fostered tourist villages is Muntei Village in South Siberut District, which is the center of various development programs such as cultural attractions and MSME training, including the development of typical Mentawai batik.

"We believe that if access to Mentawai is easier, tourist villages will develop rapidly and have a direct positive impact on the community's economy," he added.

In addition, the inaugural flight of Scoot airline from Singapore to West Sumatra on January 6, 2025 is also expected to increase international tourist visits to West Sumatra, including the Mentawai Islands.

"With this ease of access, the potential for Mentawai tourism can be increasingly recognized and favored by foreign tourists," said Irfan.

Ease of accessibility is not only a solution to increase the number of tourists, but also accelerates infrastructure development and strengthens the competitiveness of tourist villages in the Mentawai Islands.