Highlighting The Fate Of Labuan Bajo Tourism Actors, DPR Asks For An Increase In Komodo Ticket Fares To Be Reviewed

Photo by Fransisca Zagita on Unsplash

JAKARTA - The policy of limiting visits and entry fees to the Komodo National Park (TN) in NTT led to protests that led to chaos in demonstrations. Commission X DPR RI hopes that all stakeholders can sit down together to find a solution to this problem.

"The drastic increase in tariffs to Komodo National Park has caused a shock for tourism actors in Labuan Bajo because they are worried about reduced tourist arrivals," said Member of Commission X DPR RI, Andreas Hugo Pareira, Thursday, August 4.

The government decided to increase the entrance fee to Komodo National Park, including Komodo Island and Padar Island, from Rp 200 thousand to Rp 3.75 million. The rates are valid for a year, not including boat rental and accommodation.

The reason for the increase in entrance fees is so that there are restrictions on visitors to Komodo National Park in order to protect Komodo dragons from extinction.

Andreas understands that conservation is needed to protect Komodo dragons, but he warns that this policy will have an impact on hundreds of people in Labuan Bajo who depend on tourists for their livelihoods.

"Of course it will have an impact on tourism and creative economy actors who are just starting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic situation with the return of the hectic tourist visits to Labuan Bajo," he said.

Due to the tariff increase policy, tourism actors in Labuan Bajo conducted a mass strike for a month as a form of protest. The House of Representatives Commission X in charge of tourism affairs stated that they understood the concerns of tourism actors and the local creative economy.

According to Andreas, Labuan Bajo is indeed known as a destination that has become a destination for many foreign tourists. However, since the last few years, tourism in Labuan Bajo has relied a lot on local tourists, especially with the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The increase in tariffs will certainly have a big impact on tourism actors who do not only expect the presence of rich tourists or tourists from other countries. Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism actors were actually helped by the presence of domestic travelers," said Andreas.

"This proves that tourists who don't have very deep pockets are actually a social safety net for the tourism industry in Labuan Bajo. Therefore, the policy of increasing tourism rates needs to be reviewed for the sustainability of the tourism industry in Labuan Bajo," added the legislator from the NTT I electoral district.

Andreas also said that tourism actors in Labuan Bajo have understood that conservation is important for the sustainability of Komodo. He said the factor that triggered the mass strike was precisely because of the policies of the NTT Provincial Government.

"The cause of the mass strike was triggered by the distrust of tourism actors in the motive for the increase in tariffs by being given monopoly rights by the NTT Regional Government to Flobamora BUMD to set tariffs and manage Komodo National Park without involving the people who were already involved as actors in the tourism industry," said Andreas.

"I think the NTT regional government and representatives of tourism organizations need to sit down together to find a solution to stop the demonstrations in Labuan Bajo," he continued.

The increase in the entrance fee for Komodo National Park to the demonstration that led to chaos in Labuan Bajo has also attracted international attention. The DPR encourages the Government and relevant stakeholders to immediately resolve the chaos in Labuan Bajo following the policy of increasing the entrance fee to Komodo National Park.

“The Labuan Bajo situation with demonstrations is a bad treat for tourists and a negative campaign for Labuan Bajo-Flores. If this mass strike continues, tourists will be reluctant and uncomfortable to visit," said Andreas.

The DPR RI is committed to supporting the resolution of the dispute. Andreas also reminded that the policies issued by the Government should not harm the community.

"I as a member of Commission X in charge of Tourism and representatives of the people from the NTT Imakan Dapil asked Commission X to schedule a Hearing Meeting (RDP) to invite the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Representatives of Tourism Actors in Labuan Bajo, the Implementing Agency for the Labuan Bajo-Flores Authority (BPOLBF) and PT Flobamora in the mass trial that will come," he concluded.