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Foreign Ministry Promotes Labuan Bajo to 23 Ambassadors
WINDONESIA June 28, 2024
Foreign Ministry officials alongside ambassadors in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara. (ANTARA/Gecio Viana).
The Foreign Ministry is promoting the tourism potential of Labuan Bajo Subdistrict, Komodo District, West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara Province to 23 ambassadors in order to increase investment to the area.
"The region's potential encompass investment, trade, and tourism," Foreign Ministry Information and Public Diplomacy Director-General Siti Nugraha Mauludiah stated in Labuan Bajo on Jun. 27, 2024.
Siti explained that the foreign ambassadors were invited to observe the tourism potential of the Labuan Bajo Super Priority Tourism Destinations (DPSP) such as Padar Island, Komodo Island, and Pink Beach in the Komodo National Park (KNP) area as well as investment potential of the Parapuar Labuan Bajo and Golo Mori integrated tourism areas.
"This [trip] is also in the context of gastronomic diplomacy, so we are introducing Indonesian food to our foreign friends," she added.
Siti Nugraha also revealed that the ambassadors were invited to see micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) products such as tenun products, processed products, and traditional handicrafts which they hoped could be marketed in the foreign ambassadors' home countries.
"We hope they can promote tourism to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara to their people there to make them interested in inviting entrepreneurs to invest here, whether in Parapuar or Golo Mori, by introducing Labuan Bajo's enormous tourism potential," he explained.
Furthermore, foreign ambassadors will later be invited to other DPSPs in Indonesia to increase promotion and investment in both the tourism and creative economy sectors as well as the trade and agricultural sectors.
"We hope that their attractiveness could be translated into broader economic relations that provide many benefits," he said.
Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Acting Governor Ayodhia Kalake said that the East Nusa Tenggara Province has a diverse agricultural sector which has a quite large growth potential, especially in the cultivation of spices and staple food crops.
The main agricultural products of East Nusa Tenggara include corn, moringa, coffee, chocolate, cloves, and vanilla, which could support the tourism sector.
Ayodhia also revealed that East Nusa Tenggara's coffee bean productivity reached 547.92 tons per hectare (ha) in 2023, almost equaling cocoa productivity at 638 tons per ha in 2023.
Furthermore, the province includes a constellation of beautiful islands, including Flores, where Labuan Bajo is located, Sumba, and Timor, each of which has its own charm.
"[Attractions in Flores Island include] the Kelimutu Flores National Park, with its three-colored crater/lake and rare Komodo dragon, traditional Sumba villages, spectacular waterfalls, and the Pasola Tradition. Meanwhile, Timor is rich with historical and cultural heritage sites as some examples of the myriad of attractions that awaits visitors," he added.
Ayodhia also explained that there are 1,637 tourist attractions within East Nusa Tenggara in 2023, which include nature-based and culture-based tourism.
Source: www.antaranews.com
