Tourists Keep Coming Even though Mount Bromo Activity Increases

Photo by Levi Ari Pronk on Unsplash

JAKARTA - The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park Center (BB TNBTS) stated that tourists' interest in visiting this place was not affected by the increase in volcanic activity in East Java.

Head of Sub-Section for Data, Evaluation and Public Relations of the TNBTS Central Office, Sarif Hidayat, said that although Mount Bromo has been 'stretching' since February 4, 2023, tourists are still visiting.

"There are still tourist visits despite an increase in Mount Bromo activity", Sarif said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, February 15.

Sarif explained, recorded in the period February 1-13 2023, the number of tourist visits to Mount Bromo, which is one of the priority tourist destinations in East Java, reached 10,032 people.

Of the total 10,032 people, 9,836 people were domestic tourists and 196 others were foreign tourists. The TNBTS Central Office continues to ask tourists to be vigilant while in the Mount Bromo area.

The East Java Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) has issued a warning to the public not to approach the crater rim of Mount Bromo at a radius of 1 kilometre, following the increased activity of the mountain with a height of 2,329 meters above sea level (masl).

BPBD East Java has also carried out socialization and agreed with tourism service actors such as the jeep community, and horse and street vendors regarding the ban on activities in this radius.

Previously, based on information from the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, there was an increase in activity in the crater of Mount Bromo in the form of observations of fire from inside the crater, based on visual observations on 3 February 2023 at 21.14 WIB.

In the report, the smell of sulfur strongly wafted from the crater rim and a roar was heard.

In the past week, smoke from the crater has been observed to be thin to thick white at an altitude of 50-900 meters from the summit.