Protests To Increase In Komodo Island Entrance Ticket Prices, Tourism Industry Players In NTT Will Strike During August

A number of tourist actors during a demonstration about the increase in the price of admission tickets to Komodo Island. (Antara/Fransiska Intan Nuka)

JAKARTA - The Association of Tourism Actors and Individual tourism actors in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, NTT unites the perception in the MoU to stop tourism activities in tourist areas as a result of the planned increase in Komodo Island entrance tickets to reach IDR 3.7 million per person on August 1, 2022.

"We have agreed to stop all types of tourism services in the National Park Islands and in all tourist destinations in West Manggarai from 1-31 August 2022," said the Coordinator of Tourism Actors and Individual Tourism Actors of West Manggarai Regency, Rafael Taher when contacted from Kupang, Saturday night.

He said that this action was a form of protest against the refusal of tourism actors in West Manggarai regarding the policy of increasing the entrance fee for Komodo National Park by the NTT Provincial Government.

Rafael, who represents all tourism actors in West Manggarai, assessed the presence of PT. Flobamor Regional-Owned Enterprises (BUMD) owned by the NTT government have a monopoly on the tourism sector in West Manggarai.

This causes poverty for all tourism actors and the community in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai. Therefore, he said, the joint commitment to stop all tourism service activities in West Manggarai Regency without any coercion from any party.

The MoU also states that tourism actors will accept the consequences if anyone violates the MoU. The tourism actors such as tourist boat owners, owners of land transportation service providers, restaurant owners, hotel owners, photographers, guides, culinary business people.

In addition, another sanction is that if someone violates the MoU, the tourism actor must be willing to burn the facilities.

Regarding tourists who have booked plane tickets or hotels in Labuan Bajo, he said, his party will not prohibit it. But if you arrive in Labuan Bajo, there will be no vehicles that will pick you up and the hotel will receive guests.

"We do not prohibit tourists from coming. But we apologize if they have arrived in Labuan Bajo, no travel will pick them up," he added to Antara.

Meanwhile, the Head of the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Tourism Office, Sony Zeth Libing, emphasized that the East Nusa Tenggara provincial government would still impose an entrance ticket to Komodo and Padar islands of IDR 3.75 million even though there are parties who refuse the new tariffs that will take effect on August 1, 2022.

"The East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Government really appreciates the aspirations of the people who refuse to increase the entrance fee of Rp3.75 million to Komodo Island and Padar Island. We are reviewing all these aspirations but of course the application of new tariffs to Komodo will still be carried out on August 1 because it has gone through a study ripe," he said.

According to him, the Government of East Nusa Tenggara has a big vision behind the imposition of new tariffs for entry to Komodo Island, namely to keep Komodo and its ecosystems preserved forever.

He said the NTT government did not want the new tariffs to be applied when the ecosystem on Komodo Island was already starting to be damaged.

"We have to anticipate early before a wider problem occurs in the Komodo habitat and its ecosystem," said Sony Zeth Libing.