Paradiso magazine, october 2015

Vol. X October2015

Let’s explore

Maumere Bay

Has recovered after the earthquake in 1992

Location: Pangabatang, Maumere

Editor’s Note Developing Tourism in Lesser Sunda Islands

www.paradiso.co.id DIREKTUR

Igo Kleden info@paradiso.co.id

EDITOR

Tri Wibowo

bowo@paradiso.co.id

MARKETING MANAGER

Dewi Antini

dewi@paradiso.co.id

PHOTO CONTRIBUTOR

Sonny Tumbelaka

TRANSLATOR

Indira Sari Paputungan

Sales & Marketing

Misto

rEPORTER

Finance & Accounting

Komang Wahyuni, Wiss Kedang, Dona Trihapsari

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Yudick Ariant

Distributor

Donny Sakura

CONTRIBUTOR

Christovao Vinhas Cok Dewi Modestus Suharman Hubertus Samsi

Yuni Ariani

www.paradiso.co.id PT. Travindo Jaya Jl. Batas Dukuh Sari Gg Curik no. 11 Denpasar - Bali - Indonesia 80222 Phone : 0361 - 8474102 Fax: +62 361 8474102 Hp. 081339385058 w up : 081338306900 email : info@paradiso.co.id Bank Account : 097001023164531 Bank BRI Cab. Sesetan - Denpasar

Thanks To :

Ptolemy mentioned that there were three islands named Sunda located in the east of India. Based on that information, European geologists used the word Sunda to name areas and a number of islands in the east of India.

Several islands formed in Sunda was given name by using the term Sunda such as the Greater Sunda Islands and Lesser Sunda Islands. Greater Sunda Islands consist of big islands namely Sumatra, Java, Madura and Kalimantan. While Lesser Sunda Islands contain smaller islands such as Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba and Timor.

Lesser Sunda Islands are known as tourist destination due to its beautiful and stunning nature. People had traveled to this area for a vacation since long time ago. The trip of Rsi Markandiya in around the 8th century from Java to Bali is believed to be a tour that carried religious mission as well as Empu Kuturan who developed the concept of Tri Sakti in Bali came in the 11th century. In 1920, tourists from Europe began to visit Bali. The island was known in Europe as the Island of God. Another area in Lesser Sunda Islands is West Nusa Tenggara, which is known for its cattle such as horse, cow and buffalo. Nusa Tenggara’s horse has been known worldwide since hundreds of years ago. In the 13th century, West Nusa Tenggara had sent horses to Java Island. West Nusa Tenggara was also known as leisure place for kings. Kings from Bali built Narmada Garden on Lombok Island in 1727. They went to the garden for releasing tiredness and escaping from the routines in the kingdom. East Nusa Tenggara, another area in Lesser Sunda Islands, also offers beautiful nature. Here, we can find sandalwood.

Sandalwood from East Nusa Tenggara has been traded since the beginning of early centuries AD. At that time, there were many traders from western areas of Indonesia and China sailed to various areas of sandalwood producers in East Nusa Tenggara, especially Sumba and Timor Island.

Now, Lesser Sunda Islands, with Lombok and Bali islands, are already well-known all over the world. East Nusa Tenggara has island inhabited by the one and only in the world Komodo dragon. Lesser Sunda Islands is a charming place and at the same time is also mysterious. The islands can attract tourists from all over the world if it is managed well.

Let’s work together to develop tourism in the islands.

Igo Kleden ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Distribution Domestic: BALI - Kuta, Ngurah Rai Airport, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Denpasar and Ubud Area. JAKARTA - Tri Wibowo Hp. 081236044326. Surabaya - Jl.Jend.Basuki Rahmat 129-137, Surabaya 60271. Yogyakarta - Jl.Rumah Makan Gudeg 60 Citro, Laksda Adisucipto Km 9, Yogyakarta 55281, LOMBOK - Jl. Adi Sucipto No. 43, Ampenan - Lombok 83234 KUPANG - Jl. Walikota Kupang 13 SUMBA BARAT - Jl. Sudirman No. 5 Waikabubak - Sumba Barat. SUMBA TIMUR - Jl. Eltari No. 41 Matawai - Sumba Timur, LABUAN BAJO - Martin Meotoda, Ph. 081338151744 Overseas: Malaysia - maxiINFO, 32-3-1, Jalan Medan Putra 4 Medan Putra Business Centre. Off Jalan Damansara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur. Australia - 262 Wardel rd, Dulwich Hill-Sydney – NSW – 2203. Australia. THAILAND - 94/23 Wichitsongkram Rd. Kathu, Phuket 83120, WASHINGTON DC - 19233 - Wheatfield Terrace - Gaitthersburg, MD 20879. CANADA - 152, rue Notre-Dame est, 8 etage, Montreal, Qc, Canada H2Y 3p6. NETHERLAND - Vrijburglaan 72051 LA Overveen +31 235253619. ITALY - Viale Regina Margherita 270 - 00198, Rome, FRANCE - Europasia Commercial Agency, 15, rue Vallete 75005, Paris. GERMANY - Hattersheimerstr, 19, Frankfurt 60326. CZECH REPUBLIC - Na Zamecke 6/409 140 000 Prague Czech Republic, CUBA - Hotel Sevilla, Trocadero y Zuleta y Prado, 55, La Habana, Ph./Fax. +53 07 8669767. SLOVENIA - Kompas D.D, Prazakova 4, 1514, Ljubyana, Slovenia. CZECH REPUBLIC - Mr. Miroslav Radakovic, Na Zamecke 6/409 140 000 Prague Czech Republic, Ph. +420 261219316 - 19, Fax. +261 219320. CUBA - Viaggi del mappamondo - Cuba, c/o Hotel Sevilla, Trocadero y Zuleta y Prado, 55, La Habana, Ph./Fax. +53 07 8669767. SLOVENIA - Miss. Polona Pirnat, c/o Kompas D.D, Prazakova 4, 1514, Ljubyana, Slovenia.

Conten 8|

News

Celebrating the World Tourism Day, Foreign Tourists are Welcomed at Soekarno Hatta Airport

10 | Lenovo VIBE Shot, Perfectly News

Captures Holiday Moments

11 | Great Batam to Have Great News

Result

13 | Increase in Tourist Arrivals in NTT

21 | Ironman Championship to Event & Destination

Promote Marine Tourism in Bintan

22 | Tour de Singkarak 2015 Event & Destination

to Race for 1.341,5 Km

26 | Spectacular Running Race Event & Destination

“MesaStila Challenge Ultra 2015”

Kupang

32 | Exploring the Underwater Event & Destination

15 | Sano Nggoang, NTT

Beauty of Gili Trawangan

A True Flores Warmth

36 | Supporting Tourism PromoEvent & Destination

17 | Cave Liang Bua NTT

tion, Slank to Hold ‘Reog n Roll’ Concert

44 | IBIS Styles Bali Kuta Circle Bali

to Achieve Four-Star Hotel Certificate

News

6 | Paradiso August, 2015

News

7 | Paradiso August, 2015

News

Celebrating the World Tourism Day,

Foreign Tourists are Welcomed at Soekarno Hatta Airport

T

he World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September every year. A welcoming ceremony was held for tourists from China arriving at SoekarnoHatta International Airport.

“This welcoming ceremony is part of the celebration of the Wold Tourism Day 2015.

There are around 200 tourists from China coming to Bali via Jakarta. We welcome them with this welcoming ceremony,” said Syamsul Lassa, expert staff of Tourism Minister at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Sunday (27/9/2015).

The welcoming ceremony is performed

at arrival terminal 2F at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Representative of tourists received goodie bag with Wonderful Indonesian printed on it and woven scarf from Ende. They were happy with the warm welcome from representatives of Tourism Ministry and several tourism ambassadors.

Syamsul said that by this welcoming ceremony, it does not mean that tourists from China received special treatment. Every tourist from any country will get similar treatment. This event is part of the government’s commitment for countries that are granted free-VISA facility to Indonesia.

“This is our attempt to increase foreign tourist arrival to Indonesia. This is accordance to the message from UNWTO regarding free-VISA policy for foreign tourists,” he said.

One of the Chinese tourists who came with the group from Beijing, Jeffrey Sun said that he is going to Bali for enjoying the beach and shopping. This is his first time to Indonesia and Sun said that Bali is vary famous in China. “Bali is really famous in China, that’s why I come to Bali,” he said.

On the same occasion, Didien Junaedi, Chairman of Indonesian Association of Tourism Industry (GIPI) sees it as an opportunity. Didien does not see it as a problem if tourists from China only spent small amount of money during their visit to Indonesia.

“The most important thing is that the target of 20 million tourist arrival can be achieved first. Their spending isn’t a problem, it’s the quantity that matters. If they spent an average of US$ 750 for a week, and we multiply it with the number of tourists coming, that’s a lot already,” said Didien.

Wang, a tourist from China who was welcomed by Didien said that he did not prepare certain budget for his holiday in Bali. The most important thing is that he can have holiday and see various tourist destinations in Bali. (*)

GATF 2015 “Fly with Style” is Officially Opened

G

aruda Indonesia Travel Fair (GATF) 2015 held in the Main Lobby of Plenary Hall and Cendrawasih Room, Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), Senayan, Jakarta was officially opened on Friday (25/9/2015).

The travel fair was held on Sunday (27/9/2015). “The second GATF is held simultaneously in 11 cities. Today, we also have the event in Bandung, Jakarta and Makassar,” said President Director of Garuda Indonesia M. Arief Wibowo in his opening speech for Garuda Travel Fair 2015 at Cendrawasih Room, JCC. Arif said that Garuda Travel Fair 2015 has the theme of “Fly with Style” with the concept of “One Stop Shopping.” According to Arif, visitors have the opportunity to get interesting offers for flying with Garuda Indonesia and tour packages. “For BNI and

8 | Paradiso October, 2015

BRI card holders, they can get free entry and have the chance to follow various lucky dip,” he said.

Arif hopes that Garuda Travel Fair 2015 is able to increase the interest of Indonesian people to travel and ease travelers to plan their trip.

Board of Director of Garuda Indonesia together with BNI and BRI took picture during the opening of Garuda Travel Fair 2015 in Jakarta Convention Center on Friday (25/9/2015).

Deputy of Domestic Tourism Market Development for Tourism Ministry, Esthy Reko Astuti added that with the diversity of Indonesia’s tourism potentials from the sea to the tribes, then accessibility becomes important factor. “Flight becomes one of the key factor for accessibility to tourist destinations in Indonesia. Through GATF,

we can help visitors to get access to tourist destinations,” she said.

For visitors who are not customers of BRI or BNI, the admission to GATF 2015 is Rp 30,000. Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair 2015 is followed by 46 travel agents, 17 hotels and theme parks, 5 national tourism organizations, 14 corporate and travel equipment, food truck and other products. (*)

News

Attracting Tourists from Japan

T

ourism Minister, Arief Yahya is targeting Japanese tourists to visit Indonesia. He sees the great potential of tourists from Japan.

“Indonesia is safe. There’s no need to worry because the government seriously keep the safety and orderliness, especially in tourist areas,” said Arief in his written statement on Sunday (27/9).

To invite foreign tourists from Japan, Arief offers three things. First, he asks Japan to be more aggressive in making MICE – meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions – activities in Indonesia. The logical basis can easily be understood. “The biggest automotive market of Japanese products is in Indonesia. Giant companies such as Toyota, Honda, Daihatsu, Suzuki, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Kawasaki are expanding their business to Indonesia and some of their products are already manufactured in Indonesia,” he said.

“It would be great if the MICE activities of those companies are held in Indonesia,” he added.

Second, Arief asks Japan to add

sentative from PPP, Reni Marlenawati considers the government has made a right decision by increasing the promotional budget to improve tourism sector in Indonesia. “Developed countries allocate great amount of tourism promotional budget. We just start it this year,” Reni said.

However, Reni reminds that there are various important aspects that should be taken into account by the government so that they can be improved to boost tourism sector in the country.

One aspect that she also considers important is the development of tourism infrastructure. We have million of tourist destinations. Unfortunately, we are still behind our neighboring countries which have less tourist destinations. The problem lies on the infrastructure. There are many exotic places, which are difficult to access,” she said.

The second problem is related to institutional matter and human resources. Until now, there are only few tourism institutes in our country. As a result, we also have limited number of qualified human resources.

Another factor is the diversity of culture in Indonesia. Sometimes, due to the lack of understanding in serving tourists, people in several areas are still less friendly to tourists.

The point is that, government budget for tourism sector should be increased. If we’re about to make priority, then I will start from promotion, then infrastructure, education, human resources and development of tourism potentials.

“What I mean by guidance here is intended to make tourist areas to contribute to the economy of the surrounding people. Thus, there is no way we’re having good tourism, but the community is still poor,” she said. (*/bowo)

more flight routes as a support for the limited connectivity between Japan and Indonesia. Several cities recommended to add the flight capacity are Denpasar, Jakarta and Batam – Bintan. “From Japan, we can open a minimum of three cities, Tokyo, Osaka and Narita, which are popular with Indonesian destinations,” he said.

Third, Arief invites Japan to establish cooperation in the field of tourism digital marketing. He realizes that Japan is an archipelago in Asia Pacific with a population of around 127.3 million people. From that number, 101.2 people are active internet users. “The penetration of internet users in Japan has reached 79.5% from the total population. About 4.2% of internet users in the world live in Japan,” he said.

Increasing tourism promotion budget On different occasion, member of commission x of the house of repre-

9 | Paradiso October, 2015

News

Lenovo VIBE Shot,

Perfectly Captures Holiday Moments

G

reat moments during holiday can be memories that hard to forget.

Therefore, capturing moments of holiday is a must now. Your holiday moments will be more special with the presence of Lenovo VIBE Shot, smart phone that offers the best phone and camera functions.

With 16MP main camera and Full HD 5inc screen, VIBE Shot is designed specially for consumers who like photography, socializing, and great design.

Adrie M. Suhadi, Country Lead Lenovo Indonesia said that the quality of camera is one of the main aspects Indonesian consumers are looking for when they want to buy a smartphone. Lenovo VIBE Shot is not only stylish smartphone, but also powerful.

It is a perfect choice for Indonesian consumers who want smartphone and a camera in one device. The latest product from Lenovo confirms the commitment and effort of Lenovo to continue making innovation and provide something needed by its customers in stylish design.

Just like other camera device in general, VIBE Shot is equipped with special shutter, which can be used to quickly activate the camera function in order to capture moments perfectly. With the on-board autofocus infrared, VIBE Shot is twice faster that

10 | Paradiso October, 2015

the conventional auto-focus.

While the performance of shooting in low lighting and clarity for taking pictures in a dark room or at night extraordinary supported by BSI sensor 16: 9 and the technology of optical image stabilization (OIS) to ensure reduced bluring caused by any movements on the camera.

VIBE Shot is also designed for photog-

rapher from different levels. With a single touch, user can easily change the camera from auto mode to pro mode and vice versa. Designed for amateur photogapher, one of the main features in auto-mode is the smart composition function that is able to automatically detect picture and ‘point and shoot’ instruction on the screen.

Conversely, the pro-mode provides manual control to professional photographer such as aperture shutter and iso setting, which enable unlimited composition to upload their creativities. Another new feature is panoramic selfie, which enable user to take three selfies and combine them into one so that the picture can accommodate more people.

The performance of VIBE Shot can be very fast due to the Qualcom Snapdragon 615 processor with octacore chip designed for multitasking with power saving. It is supported with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory. With the support of 4G/LTE, users can browse and play online games comfortably.

The sophisticated gadget has been available since September 2015 and is offered for Rp 4,999,000. It is available in Okeshop, Erajaya and mobile phone centers.(*/bowo)

News

Great Batam to Have Great Result

T

ourism Minister Arief Yahya hopes that the Free VISA policy, which has been determined through Presidential Decree No 69 Year 2015 since June will not just be an euphoria.

September 2015 data is really surprising. The number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia through the immigration gate of Bentan Telani Airport in Bintan Island surpassed the achievement of Batam Center in Batam Island. In the history of Indonesia, the crossing of Singapore – Batam is more crowded, livelier, faster, closer and have more ships/boats.

“Thank you Minister of Law and Human Rights, thank you Director General of Immigration, this success is the result of the quick revision on Immigration Checking Point (Tempat Pemeriksaan Imigrasi -TPI), which was issued on 4 September 2015. It is the revision over the previous letter dated 23 June 2015, which states: the entry and exit of Indonesi are limited only through 9 TPI. The letter is invalid per September 4 and revised by letter saying that all the tourists may enter from any entrance and exit through

“Highly qualified. Those who come are expatriates, non Singaporeans living in Singapore or tourists who visit Singapore and then stopped by and traveled to Great Batam. It matches with marketing analysis we predicted before, because in Singapore there are 1.8 million expatriates, and 15 million foreign tourists. We often refer to Singapore as the hub country, therefore it is really effective to do promotion there, “said former president director of PT Telkom Indonesia.

Currently, Batam is included in “the big five” countries of origin of foreign tourists explosion with a percentage of 30.15% China, South Korea 20.66%, Japan 12.75%, UK 11.16%, USA 6.44% and others 18.84%.

“Actually this is a critical period for Bintan, Batam, and Tanjung Balai Karimun, which all experience drastic increse in tourist arrival. We must organize destinations and attractions there to be better. It should have international standard in all aspects.

Everything should be clean, neat, safe, and we need to have more attractions and international events. The local government must work hard and seriously for it, “he said.

Without such improvements, it will just become boomerang to Indonesia’s tourism. First, tourists will not come back visiting Indonesia.

Second, they might tell their families, friends or colleagues in their countries about the shortcomings of our destinations.

“In this digital and social media era, everybody is free to express themselves or criticize others,” said Arief Yahya, who is an alumni of ITB Bandung, Surrey University (England) and Padjajaran University (Bandung).

In contrary, if they get positive impression such as convenient, friendly, safe, good service and beautiful nature , it will increase the image of Indonesian tourism. “Bintan will be the next Bali,” said Arief Yahya. (bowo)

any door in the Republic of Indonesia, “said Arief Yahya.

He said that Batam, which is a debottlenecking information, is managed by Tourism Minister through POS media strategy and is socialized in Singapore and Malaysia.

POS here is paid media, own media (media owned by Tourism Ministry) and social media. Thus, within 12 days, wave of tourists come to Bintan.

Bintan defeats Batam and Tanjung Balai Karimun, three islands set to capture the opportunities of tourism from neighboring countries. Thus, the achievements of the visit of Riau Islands Province immediately soared amid the storm of global economic pressures. Bandar Bentan Telani rose 42.79%, to 4,113 foreign tourists.

Batam Center also rose 24.55% to 2,360 foreign tourists. Batam Sekupang increased by 17.62% to 1,694 people. Port Nongsa Batam went up to 8.28% to 796 people, Marina Batam rose 3.25% to 312 people, Marina Bintan up 0.35% or 34 people, Sri Bintan Pura rose 2.76% to 266 people and Tanjung Balai Karimun rose 0.37% to 36 people.

11 | Paradiso October, 2015

NTT

NTT Have 112 Marine Tourism Spots

E

ast Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province has 112 promising marine tourism spots. Marine tourism potentials in the province spread evenly in almost all regencies/cities.

Secretary of Tourism and Creative Economy Bureau of NTT Province Wely Rohimone said that the most favorite marine tourism potentials among tourists are diving and snorkeling in Alor and Rote Ndao Regency.

“NTT has promising marine tourism potentials such as diving, surfing, snorkeling, and fishing due to its vast sea. But the most favorite activities among tourists are diving and surfing,” said Wely in Kupang recently.

Wely said that there are five regencies with beautiful nature perfect for diving and snorkeling. They are Alor (two spots), Sikka (three spots), Manggarai and West Manggarai (one spot) and Ngada regency (one spot). He added that currently the government is optimizing all marine tourism areas in the province.

The attempt refers to the decree of East Nusa Tenggara Governor Frans Lebu Raya, which contains the launch of Tourism Prov-

12 | Paradiso October, 2015

ince Program. “In the RPJMD 2014-2018, it is included the intention to make NTT as tourism province in 2018,” he said.

In relation to this matter, the local government actively manage the destination and carry promote the beauty and

uniqueness of tourist destination in NTT. This attempt will continue be performed so that tourist destinations in the province can be known nationally and internationally. “Through this effort, it is expected that more tourists will come to NTT,”Wely said.

NTT

Increase in Tourist Arrivals in Kupang 3 Regencies in NTT to Hold ‘Lamaholot’ Cultural Festival

D

uring July 2015, it is recorded that 14,832 tourists have stayed in the hotels in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT). They consist of 12,131 domestic tourists and 2,692 foreign tourists.

Chairman of Regional Board of Indonesian Hotel Association NTT Branch, Leonard Arkiang said that the hotel occupancy of star-hotel in East Nusa Tenggara Province in July 2015 has reached 44.72 percent. Leonard encourages his members to design programs and provide the best service to the guests.

“Programs and service should be designed in accordance to the situation and condition of the partners and colleagues,” he said as cited from inilahcom (06/09).

According to Leonard, there is no need to worry about low season or low hotel occupancy if we have prepared for the situation in advance. “We have to be creative in designing the program and make it as attractive as possible. It should also be accessible to partners, colleagues and guests,” he said.

He also hopes that there will be improvement on the service provided to the guests as required in the Regulation No 10 Year 2009 on Tourism, which arrange the standard criteria for hotel classification.

“The standard of business is standard requirement that should be fulfilled by tourism business. It comprises the aspects of product, service and business management. It should also fulfill the aspects of safety, security and sanitation,” he said. (aK)

NTT to Host Melanesian Cultural Festival

As many as seven countries have confirmed their participation in the Melanesian Cultural Festival, which will be held in Kupang on 26 – 30 October 2015. Those countries are Indonesia, Timor Leste, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. The representatives of Indonesia are from Papua, West Papua, Maluku, North Maluku and NTT. “The festival is going to be opened by Minister of Education and Culture, Anies Baswedan. Actually there are 11 countries, which are classified as Melanesian countries. Indonesia has just joined as a member in 2014.

The countries, member of Melanesian race, are located in South Pacific. Melanesian group is characterized by dark skin and curly hair. In Indonesia, there are five provinces that become the member of Melanesian, namely NTT, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West Papua.

Lamaholot community that is spread in three districts in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) holds Lamaholot Cultural Festival. The festival is held in Lewoleba, Lembata regency and followed by Lamaholot community from Mainland East Flores, Adonara, Lembata, Alor and Solor. Head of Tourism Market and Information Development Division for East Nusa Tenggara Tourism and Creative Economy Bureau, Nani Carvallo said that the festival is held to maintain the Lamaholot culture.

“All participants wear traditional clothes from their respective area and perform art and culture from each island,” said Nani Carvallo.

According to Nani, one of the events in Lamaholot Cultural Festival is the Lamaholot Cultural Parade. Participants would parade around the city of Lewoleba after the opening ceremony by Lembata regent at around 03.00 pm.

Nani explained that the diversity of art and culture of East Flores and Lembata, which are located in the eastern tip of Flores and Alor Island will become interesting attraction for local people, domestic and foreign tourists.

“This is great momentum for Lamaholot community to explore and introduce tourism potentials of Lamaholot, including its nature and culture,” she said.

The festival took place on 28 – 30 September 2015. It is an event where people of Lembata, East Flores and Alor performed various art and culture, including creative products.

13 | Paradiso October, 2015

NTT

Cycling Around Moni and Kelimutu

A

s one of the main highlights to visit in Flores, the famous Kelimutu is surrounded by gorgeous landscapes and offering opportunities for sports and recreations in a sustainable and active way: cycling!

Cycling tour in Moni and Kelimutu area is suitable for intermediate to advance cyclists. If you start the Kelimutu visit from the district town of Ende, I suggest to cycle all the way up to Moni on the Transflores Highway, because the ascends are moderate, not too steep, and manageable on the 53km trip from sea level up to Moni on about 800m above sea. It is highly recommended to start the trip with good and rich breakfast, and equipped yourself with some snacks and water since the cycling estimation time is 4 hours up to 6 hours.

On the way up admire the slightly changes of flora and pass by areas with steep views down to the river bed or find yourself riding through nice forest while constantly riding

14 | Paradiso October, 2015

slightly uphill. Pass by nice and small villages and greet all the curious children with warm smile.

After passing by the junction to the traditional village of Wologai, refresh yourself and take a short break with local fruits at Nduaria Market before continuing your journey and descend to Moni begins. Moni is a quiet place to stay overnight in one of the guesthouses before continuing day trip to Kelimutu and other attractions around Moni.

The next day, start around 4am, equip yourself with a good bike lamp and go all the way up to see the magnificent sunrise of three colored-lake Kelimutu at an altitude of 1650m. You can go up by car and going back to Moni downhill with your bike.

The nice and speedy downhill on the way back to Moni is surely a high-adrenaline trip with gorgeous view! Take the chance to see the wonderful plants around and see the terraces of rice fields around Manu-

kako and Waturaka or relax in Kolorongo hot spring nearby Waturaka before cycling back to Moni.

If you like adventure, mountain biking in combination with hiking, you may try one of the other suggested tours, described in the free cycling map provided by the Flores Tourist Information Center in Moni. Please note that these are adventure cycling trip.

Otherwise, you can opt for a relax 12km downhill ride on the highway in direction of Wolowaru with stunning views as far as the Sawu Sea in the south. Wolowaru is an interesting, small market spot (market days are every Friday and Saturday). If you are in the mood, ride the same way back uphill to Moni or try to flag down a small bus or truck to transport you and the bike.

There are many more cycling routes around to discover, but you can probably find some of them in near future in a booklet soon to be published on bike tours all over Flores. In my next report the focus will be cycling around Sikka with many interesting spots to explore on two wheels.

NTT

Sano Nggoang, A True Flores Warmth

F

lores had always been my dream destination. I finally lived there for 3 months in 2013. I initially just wanted to learn the East Indonesia’s cultures despite of its poverty, tribal wars and other negative things I’ve read and heard about Nusa Tenggara Timur.

Things seemed to flow smoothly, like puzzle pieces fitting their place when I finally set foot on Flores, a unique island with multi cultures.

Flores landscape offers blissful enjoyment from mountains, beaches, forests, lakes, waterfalls and rivers. The nature is beautiful and unspoiled, which fits a real adventurer. Sano Nggoang was nonetheless one of my favorites Flores adventures. It is reachable within 1.5 hours from Labuan Bajo, where people can easily rent motor bike for IDR 100,000-150,000/day.

I left Labuan Bajo in the afternoon hoping to catch the sunset by then.

The plan somehow turned out to be an awful decision to make. While the sun was about to sink, I still could not reach the destination. I was thinking of staying

in the nearby village, yet the desire to see the beautiful crater lake kept me gunned down a path. I began to enter a forest. Relied on motorcycle light, I hardly move faster than 5km/hour. It is understandable, despite the intensive promotion, only few tourists knew about it. It is also perhaps due to the beaten track and the lack of signage. Google maps was simply out of question. Luckily, I brought a Flores map with me. The map and the motorbike’s light were the only life savior that night.

I tried staying optimistic, and kept going until I arrived at a place so pitch dark that I only vaguely saw the shade of forest trees on my left and a vast open land on the right. First I thought it was rice paddy fields but to my surprise it was the edge of the lake! For a moment I felt like a champion.

My next challenge was finding a place to sleep. Had passed semi-permanent houses lightened by lanterns, I wished to find a more descent place to stay. I was about to turn back, when I saw this house with the open door. Fortunately,

the owners let me in. They offered me a cup of coffee while we had a chat about the journey I had been through.

When I was about to excuse myself, the family invited me to have dinner as well as a place to stay. Their genuine hospitality touched me deeply. As I lay on the bamboo bed, the sound of the wind buzzing through small holes of the bamboo wall lulled me to sleep.

When the sun rose, I was guided to the best spot to witness the beauty of the lake. It is on the top of a small island connected by a wooden bridge from the mainland. As far as eyes could see, the clear green Tosca water looked relaxing with the dense rainforest as background. The morning sun warmed up my heart and the picturesque scene filled my heart with gratitude to see the wonder God had created in Sano Nggoang.

I treasure the adventure to Sano Nggoang, honored of being hosted by the family and thanked them for showing me the real Flores.

15 | Paradiso October, 2015

NTT

A Splendid Night in Waturaka Village

A

highlight of our trip in Flores was definitely our visit to Waturaka, a community based tourism village near Kelimutu. The warmth and friendliness of the people made me instantly feel home.

We were welcomed with big smiles as they showed us their place. With an overnight stay at one of the five homestays, you can become a part of the village life.

The homestays are well equipped with water bottles, towels, tissues and other necessities. The available maps and guidebooks of Flores will help to organise your trip.

We enjoyed a rich, delicious local dinner with fresh vegetables from their own little garden and chatted with our host parents.

As the village lies up in the mountains, nights can get quite cold. The villagers are prepared for that and offered me an Ikat, which is a traditional hand-woven sarong, in order to keep the body warm. Choosing the patterns, dying the material and finally weaving the cloth is a challenging and time-consuming process and I was impressed by the variety of patterns and colours used.

Soon it was bed time, and I had a deep, comfortable sleep until the early morning, when it was time to go to Kelimutu and enjoy a beautiful sunrise. Waturaka lies very close to Kelimutu, so after a short drive and walk, we reached the top of Kelimutu.

The view is just incredible and the colour of the three lakes got even more intense with

16 | Paradiso October, 2015

the rising sun. To the amusement of the locals, I wrapped myself in the Ikat, which was really helpful against the cold, whilst I appreciated the scenery.

As we went back to the village, our family welcomed us back warmly and provided us with another delicious meal. We spent the day exploring the surroundings, strolled through mountainous scenery and finally reached a beautiful Murukeba waterfall where we were able to cool down. Later on, the locals showed us their gardens where

they grow different kinds of vegetables and fruits. One farmer of the village even won an award for best practice! After one last delicious meal prepared by the family and dancing along the traditional music, it was already time to say good bye. I am still impressed by the ease of the locals to welcome us to be a part of them and share their customs with us. Staying at Waturaka was a very unique experience and I will always keep it in my heart, hoping to be back soon!

NTT

Cave Liang Bua L

iang Bua Cave is one of the world’s important archaeological sites. It is a karst limestone cave from which Flores Man (Homo Floresiensis) was found. The height of Flores Man was about 100cm and weighed only 25kg. The skull of the hobbit-like human found was as big as an orange and is predicted to live 13,000 years ago. They lived together with pygmy elephants and giant lizards such as Komodo.

Liang Boa Cave is located in Flores Island, Rampasasa hamlet, Liang Bua Village, Ruteng District, Manggarai Regency.

Archeologist predicted that the cave was begun to form around 190,000 years ago. It can be seen known from the laboratory test over sediment sample taken from the southern corner of the cave. It is assumed that the cave was formed by the river stream that carried stones, which went through the sand dune. After going through long process, the stones became sediment stones.

In 2001, archaeological excavation was

done in Liang Buang Cave. It was a cooperation between the National Archaeological Research Center and University of New England, Australia. The research result announced on October 28, 2004 revealed that the fossil of hobbit had been found in the cave. The finding makes Liang Bua Cave popular and attractive to be visited by tourists.

Access to this area is from Kupang, the capital of NTT Province by plane. It takes one and half hour to reach Ende in Flores Island from Kupang. Then, the trip is continued to Ruteng by public transport, a minibus and it takes around four hours. After that, we should go to Rampasasa, which is located 13 kilometers from Ruteng by public transport.

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NTT

Mount Inerie

M

ount Inere is located in Bajawa, the capital of Ngada, Flores Island.

It erupted in 1882 and 1970. The mount has the height of 2,245 above the sea surface. From the top of Mount Inere, we can see Bajawa in the Northwest of Flores Island with thin mist above it, which makes Bajawa looks like small and old city in Europe. In the south, we can see Sawu Sea. In the southern side of the mountain, there is a big stone, which people believe to be the incarnation of Jaramasi and his horse. Jaramasi was a knight who guarded Mount Inere. The name was taken from the words Jara, which means horse and masi that refers to the name of person (male).

Dense forest can be found in the western slope of the mountain, while the forest in the southern side has been converted into plantation area. Most of the forest in this area is situated 1,000 – 1,500 meters above the sea surface. People usually climb the mountain during the dry season between June and August.

From Kupang, the capital of NTT, tourists can fly to Ende, a city in Flores Island.

The trip is then continued to Bajawa, which is located 61 kilometers from Ende. After

18 | Paradiso October, 2015

that, tourists can proceed their trip to tourist village of Bena, around 15 kilometers to the south of Bajawa. It is the last village before heading off to the top of Mount Inerie.

Bena village is the gate to the top of Mount Inere. Accommodation and restaurants are available in this village.

NTT

Rebuilding Traditional Houses in

W

Wologai Village

ologai is a traditional Lionese village situated on a beautiful forested hill set with a splendid panorama of Lepembusu Mountaintop.

Located about 40 km from Ende, Wologai is one of the few villages in Ende district which still thoroughly maintain the traditional Lionese architectural style.

The houses are constructed by woods and thatch. Therefore, the houses are

highly flammable; especially as the kitchen is located inside the house. The village already burnt down several times, the last time it happened in 2012.

The last fire that happened was due to the short circuit. It burnt several houses which circled “keda�. Keda is the central ritual house located in the heart of the village. Thanks to the existence of this house, so that throughout the burnt down that had

happened for several times the inhabitants of Wologai village are still able to save numbers of valuable sacred relic from the fire.

At the moment, with the assistance of the central and regional government of Indonesia, Wologai is again rebuilding its traditional houses. Thus far, there have been 5 houses built out of 12 houses that were burnt down. There will be other 7 houses yet to come. If the construction goes according to plan, all the houses would be finish by the end of this year.

Since Wologai has been known as a village that holds strong traditional cultures and customs, it is scheduled that there will be a great traditional inauguration ceremony for the new houses at the end of 2014

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Event & Destination

20 | Paradiso August, 2015

Event & Destination

Ironman Championship to Promote Marine Tourism in Bintan T he international event Ironman 70.3 Bintan (formerly MetaMan) held in Lagoi Bay Bintan was ended on Sunday (23/8). Lagoi Bay, the new location for Ironman 2015, becomes new and promising business area development. It needs to be introduced to international world.

Ironman is a sport tourism event known all over the world. The number of participants is growing bigger and bigger every year. “With the number of participants to reach 800 athletes, in short term we have been visited by 800 athletes plus possibly their spouses plus spectators from various countries,” said Deputy of International Tourism Marketing for Tourism Ministry, I Gede Pitana.

“Seeing from 45 countries of participants, it means that this event will have outstanding publication effect in various countries and of course will promote Bintan internationally,” he said.

Managing Director Event Organizer Meta Sport, Nathalie Marquet said, “After three times implementation Metaman, this time it has entered the category of Ironman, the level is higher.”

Previously, according to Nathalie, the participants were from 35 countries. This year there are an addition of 10 countries

and brings the total to 45 countries. If the event runs well in Bintan, it will also increase the trust of international world over Ironman.

The sport championship consists of three parts, namely swimming, cycling and running. Ironman athlete from Australia, Brad Kahiefeldt (36) won the first position of male Ironman category 70.30 with the fastest record in completing swimming with the distance of 1.9km, 90km for cycling and 21km for running with the total time of 3 hours, 55 minutes and 31 seconds.

In this competition, Brad won over Timo Bracht from Germany who has six times won Ironman championship. On the second position is Mike Philips (24) from New Zealand with the total time of 4 hours and 18 seconds. The third position is Fredrik Croneborg (35) from Sweden with the total time of 4 hours 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

For female category, the first position is taken by Gina Crawford (35) from New Zealand (4 hours 25 minutes and 19 seconds). The second winner is Caitlin Snow (33) from the United States of America (4 hours 27 minutes and 2 seconds) and the third position is won by Kateyu Gibbs (29) from Australia (4 hours 30 minutes and 3 seconds).

“When a destination can be promoted to international level, then its image will go up and more people will come to Bintan,” said I Gede Pitana.

Lagoi Bay is new investment area in

Lagoi. Several foreign investors have conveyed their interest to make investment there.

“Lagoi Bay is new tourism business area, which is quite promising. With its beautiful nature that we’re going to introduce internationally, Bintan Island will be visited by tourists for its beautiful beach, nature and hospitality of the people,” said General Manager PT Bintan Resort Cakrawala (BRC), Operator of Tourism Area - Lagoi Bay, Abdul Wahab.

Pitana added, “We’re from the central government fully support this activity and hope that this kind of sport tourism event will be held in various areas in Indonesia and the quality will also be increased.”

“My request to the license holder of Ironman is that hopefully this isn’t the last event, but the first one and will be continued with the next event, in Bintan as well.

If necessary, the event is held every year in Indonesia,” Pitana said.

Pitana added, “Bintan is chosen due to its location, which is close to Singapore.

If we chose areas in eastern Indonesia, it might be difficult to access from Singapore.”

In addition to having quite good accessibility, Bintan is also ready to host the event in terms of supporting facilities for sport tourism. Bintan has already had the experience of hosting similar events such as Triathlon and Tour de Bintan. (evi)

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Event & Destination

Tour de Singkarak 2015 to Race for 1.341,5 Km J

akarta – The international bike race the 7th Tour de Singkarak (TdS) is held in West Sumatera on 3 – 10 October 2015. This year, participants will cross 18 regencies/cities with the travel distance of 1,341.5 kilometers. The prize prepared for the 7th TdS is quite big. The organizer has prepared the total prize of Rp 2.4 billion.

In addition to bike race, TdS also aims to promote the natural beauty and art and culture in West Sumatera to foreign tourists. The schedule of TdS, which is a combination of sport and tourism, follows the changes set on UCI Road Calendar Asia Tour.

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya considers TdS to have high business value and provide direct impact on the improvement of economy of West Sumatera people. He also said that in its early implementation, TdS has significant role in boosting the economic recovery of West Sumatera after

22 | Paradiso October, 2015

the earthquake in 2009.

“The implementation of TdS has direct economic impact and high media value, which is effective for branding and public relation affairs,” said Arief Yahya.

Participants are taken to explore various natural landscape and villages in West Sumatera such as Kelok 44, Kelok 9, and the deadly climb in Sileh Hill. Besides that, they can also enjoy the beauty of West Sumatera’s nature like Lake Singkarank, Lake Kembar, Harau Valley, Lake Maninjau and Puncak Lawang, Jam Gadang of Bukittinggi, Sawahlunto, Basa Pagaruyung Palace and many more.

Sapta Nirwandar, Chairman of Tour de Singkarak said that TdS is the biggest and the most lively international bike race in Indonesia. Besides promoting West Sumatera, the event is also expected to boost local infrastructure development and open the access for market and investment.

“Gradually, this event has resulted in multiplier economical impacts for hotels, transportation, culinary sector, crafting sector and tourist destination. For the people of West Sumatera, the mega event will give positive impacts on various sectors around the areas passed by TdS participants,” said Sapta Nirwandar.

“This is sport tourism. We can promote Indonesian culture, especially West Sumatera,” he said.

TdS 2015 is followed by 24 teams from 36 countries. The teams are Asian Racing Team (Japan), Arbo Denzel Cliff (Austria), 7 Eleven Roadbike (Philippine), Holy Brother Cycling Team (People’s Republic of China), Attaque Team Gusto (Taiwan), National Sports Council (Malaysia), Pegasus Continental Cycling Team (Indonesia), Pishgaman Giant Team (Iran), St. George Merida Cycling Team (Australia), Singaha Infinite Cycling Team (Thailand), Team Diferdance

Event & Destination

that the team from Tourism Ministry and PB ISSO have visited the racing track. Before the race, everything has been completed,” he said.

Presenting New Destination

Gigi Losch (Luxembourg), Track Team Astana (Kazakhstan), Uzbekistan National Team (Uzbekistan), and a number of the best teams that will be chosen by PB ISSI to join this race.

“This year’s race is more challenging. Especially with the participation of 24 teams from 36 countries,” said Deputy Assistant of Personal Market Segment Development for Tourism Ministry, Raseno Arya.

Interestingly, said Raseno, Tour de Singkarak this year is followed by teams that have many experience participating in international bike race such as Track Team

Astana. The team is from Kazakhstan and has participated in Tour de France. This year, the first stage will be started from Carocok Beach in Pesisir Selatan regency and ended in Padang city.

Tour de Singkarak is already included into the calendar of Union Cyclist International (UCI) and Amaury Sport Organization (ASO). According to their data, Tour de Singkarak becomes one of the bike races, which has the biggest number of spectators.

Head of West Sumatera Tourism and Creative Economy Bureau, Burhasman, said

Tour de Singkarak 2015 presents new destination, which is not passed by participants in the previous race. Mentawai is one of the regencies, which participates in TdS 2015, although it has not been included in the route of the race. Mentawai consists of islands, therefore it is not possible yet for cyclists to cross this area.

“Last year we started from the north and this year from the south, that’s the difference. We also go through new destination such as West Pasaman, Southern Coast, Sijunjung and South Solok,” said Sapta.

TdS 2015 has the start line on the Southern Coast and finish in Padang city on the ninth day. There are several interesting spots this year. “There is Kelok 44 in Agam for the climbing track. From the top we can see the beautiful Lake Maninjau,” he said.

Moreover, Sapta said that there is also Sawahlunto, which used to be a coal mining town and now becomes tourism town. There is also Padang Panjang where participants will be presented with various traditional culinary from West Sumatera. (*)

Stages of Tour de Singkarak 2015 - Saturday (3/10/2015): Pesisir Selatan-Pariaman (136 km) - Sunday (4/10/2015): Padang Pariaman-Solok regency (120 km) - Monday (5/10/2015): Sijunjung-Dharmasraya (157 km) - Tuesday (6/10/2015): South Solok -Sawahlunto (160 km) - Wednesday (7/10/2015): Bukittinggi-Tanah Datar (145 km) - Thursday (8/10/2015): Payakumbuh-Limapuluh Kota (135 km) - Friday (9/10/2015): Pasaman-West Pasaman (98 km) - Saturday (10/10/2015): West Pasaman-Agam (121 km) - Sunday (11/10/2015): Padang Panjang-Padang (110 km)

23 | Paradiso October, 2015

Advetorial

24 | Paradiso August, 2015

25 | Paradiso June, 2015

Event & Destination

Spectacular Running Race

“MesaStila Challenge Ultra 2015”

T

ourism Ministry supports the running race MesaStila Challenge Ultra 2015 held in Magelang on 10 – 11 October 2015 to become tourism icon of Central Java.

26 | Paradiso October, 2015

Deputy of National Tourism Marketing Development, Esthy Reko Astuti in the press conference held in Sapta Pesona Building Jakarta on Thursday said that her department pay attention on the current trend by supporting a number of sport competitions in Indonesia to become tourism icon for certain areas.

“We support the implementation of MesaStila Challenge Ultra 2015 because it promotes the beauty of mountains in Indonesia, especially Mount Merbabu and Mount Merapi in Central Java. This can be a unique event because in Indonesia, there aren’t many ultra running race, which has the distance over 50 kilometers,” said Esthy.

The track is not only challenging, but also presents the charm of Ambarawa Railway Station, old train railway, crossing bridge of train, people’s settlement, rice fields and coffee plantation.

General Manager MesaStila, M Islamil Rauf explained that MesaStila Challenge Ultra this year is the fifth time held. The event is targeted to enter the qualification of Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc (UTMB) so that it can

be included the map of international sport competition.

“Last year, the participants reached 80 people from Indonesia and abroad. We hope the number will increase this year considering that the track is tougher and more challenging. We add new category, Ultra Race 100 K with more challenge and more spectacular view, climbing and exploring five mountains that surround Magelang city,” said Isa. The running race will consist of the categories of 13K and 21K, 42K (marathon) and 100K (ultra). MesaStila Resort also offers special promo for participants who are interested to stay in the resort after the race. (*/bowo)

Event & Destination

The Beauty of “Outer Space” ala Kimberly Tandra

W

hat crosses your mind when you hear the term “Outer Space?” Is it Star Trek movie? Or Lady Gaga who often wears clothes with futuristic theme?

The two examples can complete the fantasy of a young designer, Kimberly Tandra.

Fashion designer who is currently undertaking her second year study in ESMOD Jakarta confidently launches her first line under the brand of “Kimberly Tandra”.

As many as 34 collections with the theme of Futuristic ready to wear were presented by Kimberly in two sequences.

In the first sequence, there were 17 clothes with the theme of outer space, and then in the second sequence, as many as 17 ready to wear outfit presented to complete her first solo fashion show at Grand Ballroom Kempinski Hotel, Jakarta on Saturday (5/9).

Kimberly who is now 17 years old intentionally presents the outer space theme in her premiere show. She thinks that this theme is rarely chose by Indonesian fashion designers. The theme is unique and eye-catching.

“The outfit I presented here is extraordinary, but can still be worn in special occasions. Through the outer space concept,

I want to introduce my first existence in the world of mode. Hopefully, through the solo show of Futuristic Ready to Wear ala Kimberly Tandra, my performance can be taken into account,” she said.

For cutting, Kimberly presents simple cutting that fit on body. According to her, outfit with futuristic theme is not suitable if it is made in loose cutting. Therefore, every outfit is designed fit to the body of the person wear it.

The 34 designs of Kimberly are presented in cheerful neon colors. “In the first sequence, all outfits are in neon colors such as orange. But in the second sequence, I focus on black and white, which symbolize neutralism,” she said.

As a new comer in fashion industry, Kimberly admits that she is challenged to show herself. She wants to prove that a student can also create extraordinary designs.

She likes designing since she was a kid. She used to wear uncommon outfits that other people don’t have. She even designed new model so that people could not copy her style.

Holding on her childhood experience, now Kimberly makes outfits that are difficult for other designer to copy. “Mt designs

are exclusive for they aren’t mass products.

It is possible that there is only one product for one design. This concept is expected to make my design special in the eyes of its fans,” she said. (*)

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Sumba

28 | Paradiso December, 2014

Sumba

27 | Paradiso December, 2014

Event & Destination

The Captivating Pahawang Island W

eekend is a perfect time for a vacation for the people of Jakarta who have limited time. There is an interesting marine attraction, which is not too far from the city of Jakarta. It is Pahawang Island in Bandar Lampung.

Lampung, which is so far well-known for tourist attractions of Mount krakatau, Tanjung Setia, Siger Tower and Way Kambas National Park, also has Pahawang Island, which is quite captivating.

Pahawang Island is situated in Punduh Padada district, Pasawaran regency, South Lampung. The island is divided into two, namely Pahawang Besar and Pahawang Kecil.

The exotic island with its white sandy beach has abundant hidden beuties. With an area of 1,084 hectares, the island is inhabited by around 400 families. There are six hamlets in the island, namely Suakbuah, Penggetahan, Jeralangan, Kelompok, Pahawang, and Cukuhnyai.

There are many islands around Pahawang such as Pahawang Kecil Island, 30 | Paradiso October, 2015

Gosong Island, Kelagian and Pahawang Besar Island.

The island is not only known for its long white sandy beach, but also for its mangrove forest. “The white sand will appear like a sand island in Pahawang Lunik during the low tide. Pahawang Island is often visited by people for snorkeling or just relaxing on the white sand,” said Galang, a tour guide of Pahawang Island.

The most visited snorkeling spot in Pahawang Island, according to Galang who is also a diver, is the spot where a fisherman boat sank. The boat, which is located in Kelagian Island becomes the habitat of fish and other sea creatures.

“There are 8 – 9 diving spots in Pahawang. Here we can also find different kinds of fish such as clown fish, manta ray, and blue shellfish. With its natural beauty and stunning underwater garden, Pahawang Island can be favorite spot for some divers.

If it is not foggy, Mount Krakatau can be seen from this island.

The beauty of coral reef and various fish

can be seen only a few meters away from the beach. Group of colorful fish swim very close when you are diving in Pahawang beach.

Pahawang Island can be reached from Jakarta via Merak Harbor. The ticket from Merak to Bakauheni Harbor in Bandar Lampung is Rp 15,000. Merak is a harbor crossing that connects Java Island and Sumatera, which is separated by Sunda Strait.

It takes two hours to travel from Merak harbor to Bakauheni or vice versa. Once we arrived in Bakauheni, we have to go to Port Ketapang, which is located in Pesawaran

Event & Destination regency. This trip takes another two hours.

The port is the crossing point to Pahawang Island.

Before exploring Pahawang Island, in Port Ketapang we can enjoy a cup of coffee or have some snacks. There are many stalls serving food and drinks for breakfast or lunch and snacks for you to have on the boat in this area.

The trip to Pahawang Island is started from Pesawaran where tourists can rent a boat. There are two types of boats to rent, namely Speed Lidah with the cost between Rp 700,000 to Rp 1 million and Ketinting boat with the cost Rp 1 million for two days.

Speed Lidah boat can accommodate 6 – 7 passengers with the speed around 20 – 25 minutes. Ketinting boat can accommodate up to 15 people with slower speed, which is 40 – 60 minutes. However, for those who are not fit enough, it would be better to avoid Speed Lidah due to its speed.

Snorkeling equipment can be rented in Pesawaran with the cost of Rp 45,000 – Rp 50,000 per day or Rp 90,000 for two days. For diving equipment, tourists can

use the equipment of Navy, which costs Rp 400,000 – Rp 450,000.

According to Galang, there are 200 boats in Pahawang Island and 150 of them can guide tourists in snorkeling and 20 – 30 speed lidah boats. Domestic tourists who have visited the island are mostly from Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung and Palembang.

“Most of foreign tourists who visit Pahawang Island are from Holland, Australia, German and Philippine. They found out about the island from Facebook, twitter and Instagram. The island has been known in 32 countries and become more popular than the three Gili in Lombok,” said Galand enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, this beautiful Pahawang beach, which begins to attract tourists still needs supporting facilities to make it more beautiful such as a bridge in the port, boat equipped with buoy, restaurants and shops selling souvenirs.

“I don’t know the exact number of tourists visiting this island because there isn’t any data on that yet. However, it can reach around 6,000 tourists per week. The number of visitors is three times higher since it is promoted on social media in 2012,”

Galang explained.

According to Galang, there are 30 units of home-stay in Pahawang Island. Each unit costs Rp 400,000 – Rp 450,000 per night and can accommodate up to 15 people.

For lunch, visitors can be taken to the restaurant in Tanjung Putus Resort managed

by Ko Pin Hu by free-of-charge boat.

On Pahawang Kecil Island, there is a natural bridge called Tanjung Putus. It connects Tanjung Putus Island with Pahawang Kecil Island. “Tanjung Putus connects with Sumatera,” he said.

“The natural bridge can only be seen during the low tide. Tanjung Putus area is one of favorite diving spots among tourists,” he said.

Tourists can spread dried bread to attract zebra fish. “In an month, I can spend three 100 kilograms of dried bread to attract the fish out,” said Ko Pin Hu. Both Galang and Ko Pin Hu hope that the government pay more attention to Pahawang Island. “Please pay more attention on this beautiful Pahawang Island, we need government’s attention,” they said. (evi)

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Event & Destination

Exploring the Underwater Beauty of Gili Trawangan

O

ver the past ten years, diving tourism in Indonesia has become more popular and well-known in the world. The government continue to carry out promotional activities in order to promote marine tourism and make Indonesia be more popular internationally.

Indonesia is part of the Coral Triangle area with its most beautiful and complete underwater richness, which make the country the target for diving enthusiasts from Indonesia and abroad.

In order to promote the potential of marine tourism in Indonesia, Ministry of Tourism in this case Deputy Assistant for South East Asia Market Development, Deputy of International Market Development held a famtrip and diving activities inviting a number of buyers from Poland,

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England, America and Singapore to Bali and Lombok on 29 August – 2 September 2015.

This activity is the continuation of the 4th Coral Triangle on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) on 27 – 29 August 2015 in Nusa Dua, Bali. The event has special theme of marine tourism: “The Coral Triangle as a Global Sustainable Marine Tourism Destination.”The meeting contributes to the strengthening of Indonesian position as the world maritime axis as well as to promote marine tourism in Indonesia.

Famtrip for diving operator is divided into three groups of destination. In addition to Bali – Lombok, other destinations are Wakatobi and Boalemo. These three locations are chosen by considering that

Bali and Lombok are ready samples of marine tourism development and suitable for model of diving tourism location in Indonesia.

Wakatobi is chosen considering its location, which has diverse underwater potentials and Boalemo is new development center suitable for pioneering tourists and investors.

Deputy Assistant of International Tourism Marketing Strategies for Tourism Ministry, Ratna Suranti said that in order to increase the number of special interest tourists such as diving, in addition to promotions, her division is facilitating buyers to get to know to diving destination in Indonesia so that they can see it directly and establish business cooperation with the local operators.

“We hope they will make tour packages to Indonesia,” said Ratna during the Famtrip activity in Gili Trawangan, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) some times ago.

The promotion in a form of Famtrip is considered to be very effective because it is on target. The operators are expected to become the media of promotion for divers in their market. “Some of them chose not to join diving. But what they saw is not only the underwater potentials,” said Ratna.

In order to find out the underwater potentials of Indonesia, these operators could find information from various sources. The important aspects that they need to know are accommodation available around the destination, safety, ground handling and finding networking.

One of the Famtrip participants, Walt, a diving businessman from Central Oregon Dive Travel in the USA said that diving is not only favorite among young people, but also adults. He often handles retired clients

Event & Destination who like diving and adventure. “They love seeing new things and experiencing the culture in new places. Bali has them all.

We can dive, enjoy the culture and its local culinary,” he said.

Walt is also impressed with the trend of eco-tourism in Indonesia, which invites tourists to travel as well as doing the activities related to conservation such as coral reef planting. “This is new tourism product that can be offered. I know American people will be interested in this kind of activity,” he said.

Introducing New Destination The result of the discussion with the buyers, participants of Famtrip, reveals that they are quite satisfied with this activity. In addition to business activities conducted in Bali, the Famtrip program to diving destination in Gili Trawangan has successfully triggered their enthusiasm.

Andriyatna Rubenta Tarigan, Sub Division Head of Promotion of General Tourism Trip said that the result of the evaluation indicates that buyers are satisfied. Some of the buyers who visited Bali – Lombok are from America and they played in Indonesian market, especially Sulawesi.

“The destinations they offered are still limited to around Derawan and Bunaken.

So this is good opportunity to introduce new destinations. Regarding the aspect of budget, this promotion is more efficient because we’re directly targeting buyers that really sell Indonesia. They will become trigger point to attract tourists, especially diving tourists to visit Indonesia with choices of new destinations,” said Rubenta.

In addition, Ruben said that there are participants from Poland, England and Singapore. The market is even wider because specifically for diving tourism development, the main market is still tourists who have longer spare time.

The main problem is still connectivity between the destination and the connecting area. For example, those from America or Europe area generally transit in Bangkok, Singapore or Malaysia first. Besides flight route, the condition of destination also needs tourist attractions for long trip.

Ruben explained that the number of special interest tourists such as diving might be not too high, but their spending is quite big. It is because for doing diving activities requires around USD 150 for one session.

This excludes meal and accommodation.

Gili Trawangan, Charming Marine Destination Famtrip participants departed to tourist area of Gili Trawangan from Port Candidasa in Karangasem, Bali. In this port, we can find many boats in various types and sizes that can take us to Gili Trawangan. We chose Gili Cat and arrived in Gili Trawangan within two hours.

Gili Trawangan area in West Nusa Tenggara is one of the world favorite tourist destination, which offers exciting marine tourism experience. This place is far from the hustle and bustle of the city life and presents you with charming beach view and stunning underwater beauty.

Gili Trawangan is administratively located in West Nusa Tenggara province in the north west of Lombok Island. It is actually a small island with the coastline as long as 2 kilometers and the width of 1.5 kilometers.

It takes only two hours to go around this island.

In the area of Gili Trawangan, there is not any activity of motor vehicles. It is prohibited. If you are tired walking, you can hire a bike or ride on cidomo (horse-drawn cart), which are available on the island.

The island is not only free from pollution, but it also has white sandy beach with crystal clear water and stunning underwater view. The contour of the beach in Gili Trawangan is the same as other beaches in Lombok Island. It has white sand and beautiful beach panorama. We were relaxing on the beach while enjoying the magnificent view of Mount Rinjani and Mount Agung from distance.

Snorkeling and diving are two of the most popular activities in Gili Trawangan.

You can find diving operator with divers who hold international license there. Thus, it would be very easy to find a guide and diving equipment needed.

Famtrip participants had the chance to try diving in the beach of Gili Trawangan.

There are a number of famous diving spots there. Each of them has its own uniqueness. Some of the popular diving spots in Gili Trawangan are Turtle Point, Shark Point, CoralFanGardern, Bounty Reef, Trawangan Slope, Simon Reef, and Turbo.

Every diving operator there has their own favorite spots with different level of difficulty in accordance to the skill of the divers. Some of the famtrip participants enjoyed the beauty of marine biota in Gili Trawangan by snorkeling.

While snorkeling, we saw the underwater beauty of Gili Trawangan as well as green turtles. This rare fauna can be seen in the depth og 8 – 15 meters under the sea surface.

Another activity that becomes favorite among tourists and travelers is watching sunset in Gili Trawangan. The sunset is even more beautiful if it is seen from the place called Sunset View, which is located in the western area of the island. We went there by bicycle. There were many tourists gathered there. This place has become favorite spot for relaxing and chatting while waiting for the sunset.

Accommodation in Gili Trawangan is quite complete for we can find home-stay to five-star hotel here. Dozens of hotels with various traditional and international menu are also available. A number of bars and cafes present live music performance and this is one of the interesting entertainment while visiting the island. What are you waiting for? Prepare your vacation to Gili Trawangan and enjoy the stunning marine beauty. (bowo)

33 | Paradiso October, 2015

Event & Destination

Nusa Penida Festival 2015 to Promote Bali’s Beauties

T

ourism Ministry in cooperation with local government of Klungkung regency, Bali, held the 2nd Nusa Penida Festival on 2 – 4 October 2015.

The event was held in Lembongan, Nusa Penida, Klungkung, Bali.

In this event, Nusa Penida will be set as Marine Conservation Area by Ministry of Marine and Fisheries. Nusa Penida Festival 2015 has marine theme with the slogan “Enjoy the Blue Paradise.”This slogan means that Nusa Penida is charming blue paradise stunning flora, fauna and sea garden.

“We support the implementation of Nusa Penida Festival 2015 as real promotional action for local tourism. Bali is already well-known for its beautiful natural richness. Nusa Penida is part of Bali, which also has beautiful natural potentials, especially its magnificent underwater world,” said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.

Klungkung Regent, I Nyoman Suwirta said that the preparation for Nusa Penida Festival ran well. The committee and local community worked hand in hand to prepare it by practicing the dances, preparing the stage and preparing various competitions to be held during the festival. Nusa

34 | Paradiso October, 2015

Penida Festival 2015 in general presents three aspects, namely nature, culture and adventure of Nusa Penida tourism.

The campaign of nature preservation and conservation is held under the nature category. It includes coral reef transplantation, beach cleaning, mangrove planting, marine conservation education for children and spiritually held religious ceremony of mulang pekelem and mass rejang dance,

which involved 1000 dancers to ask for safety and the balance of nature.

For the category of culture, the festival presents unique and original culture like the performance of Jangkang dance, Gandrung Bungan Urip dance and Gambuh dance. The culture presented did not merely contain the nuance of art, but it also presented marine culture of Nusa Penida people such as traditional sailing boat race, mini sailing boat race, canoe race, seaweed cultivation contest and the contest of traditional Balinese clothing. Foreign tourists might also join this competitions.

In the adventure category, you would be invited to ride bicycle around Lembongan and Ceningan Island, join village tour, snorkeling, surfing and exploring mangrove forest in Lembongan island on a traditional boat. (*/bowo)

Event & Destination

Solo to Hold SIPA 2015

I

n the evening thousand of visitors consisting of invited guests, delegates and audiences crowded Port Vastenburg to watch the opening of Solo International Performing Arts (SIPA) 2015. The event is held by the Indonesian Tourism Ministry in cooperation with the City Government of Surakarta, SIPA Community and Semarak Candra Kirana Foundation.

SIPA performs performing arts from all over the world, which include dancing, music, theatrical performance and many more.

Lighting and projector arrangement with the background of Port Vastenburg, which has cultural and historical value, has enlivened SIPA, which has been held since 2009.

With the theme of “Live in The Contemporary World,” the seventh event lasted for three consecutive evenings on 10 – 12 September 2015.

“SIPA is part of the big plan in searching and searching for culture,” said Irawati Kusumorasri in her speech during the opening of SIPA 2015 at Port Vastenburg, Solo, on Thursday evening (10/9/15).

She said, “SIPA continues digging performing arts as lifestyle, presents to face the challenges of time and is expected to promote the city of Solo.”

On the same occasion, Minister of

Education and Culture, Dr Anies Rasyid Baswedan, Ph D in his speech said, “SIPA is an event that can be made into the spirit considering the importance of voice the world cultural generation nowadays.”

“This performance is hopefully can add more expression into the arts,” he said.

SIPA 2015 can also shows the position of Indonesia in international world.

“The cultural richness of Indonesia can be enjoyed not only by Indonesian people, but also by the international community so that they can absorb our culture,” Anies said.

The opening of SIPA 2015 was marked by the hitting of gong by Dr Anies Rasyid Baswedan, PhD accompanied by Irawati Kusumorasri and Solo Mayor and lit the fireworks with all audiences.

The event was attended by seven delegations from Indonesia, namely Solo, Semarang, Bandung, Banten, Padang, Bengkulu and Kudus. The international delegations consisted of Singapore, German, South Korea, Thailand and France.

Delegations that performed in the opening night of SIPA 2015 on Thursday (10/9/15) were from Singapore (Horizone Troupe Dance ), Semarang (Phoenix Dance), Bandung (UPI Band-

ung), Banten (Bale Seni Ciwasiat) and Banyumas (Rianto Dewandaru).

As an opening before the performance of the five delegations, Fajar Setriadi who is the mascot of SIPA 2015 performed in collaboration with dancers from Semarak Candra Kirana studio.

Fajar presented the performance of Mandala Gula Klapa, which is a theatrical dance that narrates the contemporary national spirit. (evi)

35 | Paradiso October, 2015

Event & Destination

Supporting Tourism Promotion, Slank

to Hold ‘Reog n Roll’ Concert

M

usic band ‘Slank’ is going to hold series of special concert from October to November 2015. it is not an ordinary concert. Bimbim and friends are going to have a concert with the theme rich in nationalism “Konser Slank Reog & Roll” (Reog & Roll Slank Concert).

In this concert, Slank will present Reog of Ponorogo as the main mascot.

“The theme is chosen because Slank is Rock n Roll Band and Reog is the mascot of Indonesia,” said Kaka Slank during the press conference in Sapta Pesona Building, Tourism Ministry, Jakarta.

Later Slank will also collaborate with local artists to describe the natural and cultural beauty of Indonesia such as Kuda Lumping, Wayang, Tifa and Papua’s dance, Dayak’s dance, Sasando and other traditional art and culture of Indonesia.

“We proudly and enthusiastically present a very Indonesian collaboration,” said Kaka.

Tourism minister Arief Yahya fully supports the implementation of the concert.

He considers the concept to be good cul-

36 | Paradiso October, 2015

tural acculturation. He also sees Slank as a community and not only as musician who can deliver message to the young generation of Indonesia.

“I ask for a help to promote Pesona Indonesia. If it is done by Slank, I’m sure it will be heard by million of people in Indo-

nesia,” said Arief Yahya.

The concert is planned to be held in 10 cities across Indonesia. It is started from Makassar in Four Points By Sheraton on 9 October 2015, and ended in Bali Taman Gong Kertalangu on 29 November 2015. (*/bowo)

Event & Destination

Promoting NTB’s Beauties through

Senggigi Festival 2015

S

engigi Festival 2015 is held again to increase tourists’ interest to visit Lombok Island as well as to promote NTB’s tourism. It presents various interesting attractions and the inauguration of Miss NTB 2015.

Ghea Putri Mulya, a 170cm tall girl from Central Lombok is inaugurated as Miss NTB 2015. The student of Mataram University, Faculty of Economics who majors in taxation said, “There are many tourism potentials in NTB and its culture that not many people know about.”

“I want to promote NTB’s tourism such as Central Lombok with its Kute Beach, Mount Rinjani, Mount Tambora and its charming Gili’s,” said Ghea who likes traveling and fashion show to Paradiso.

Ghea, who was wearing ikat weaving top and songket with Sasak motif at that evening, hopes that people will maintain the safety and convenience in NTB consdering that many tourists visit the province.

In addition to the inauguration of Miss NTB 2015, a number of awards were also given to people who are considered to concern on the culture and tourism of NTB. Senggigi Festival has become annual agenda, which presents different kinds of activities with art and cultural nuance,

education, entertainment and exhibition of local craft industry.

“One thing I want to say here is that please maintain tourism sector carefully because it is getting better in the future,” said Moh Amin, Vice Governor of NTB during the opening of Senggigi Festival, which was held in line with the closing of Lombok Sumbawa Cultural Month on Wednesday evening (16/9/15).

For tourists who like souvenirs, handmade crafts such as woven ikat from Lombok, pottery and antiquities are available there.

Sengigi is tourist area, which offers charming beach stretching from the tip of Ampenan old town to the northern area of Senggigi. Not only beautiful beach, here we can also see stunning hills. The island is directly facing Bali Island.

While in Senggigi, don’t forget to visit the three Gili’s, namely Gili Trawangan, Gili Meno, and Gili Air which are very close to Senggigi, but geographically they are part of North Lombok regency.

On the same occasion, the caretaker of West Lombok Regent, Fauzan Khalid said, “Senggigi Festival is making improvement from year to year of its implementation. The participants consist of two provinces and eight regencies/cities. They presented art

and culture from their respective areas.”

“We hope in the future Lombok Sumbawa Cultural Month can be more integrated with the implementation of Senggigi Festival. Thus, we can work together from the beginning to discuss and design the programs presented so that they can be optimally presented and attract more domestic and foreign tourists to visit West Lombok in particular and West Nusa Tenggara in general,” he said.

According to Fauzan, Senggigi Festival with the theme of “Harmoni Alamku Lestari Budayaku Pesona Negeriku” (Harmonious My Nature, Sustainable My Culture, Charms of My Country) is expected to summarize the beauty of West Lombok regency.

In the end of his speech, Fauzan said, “We always rent the place for holding Senggigi Festival (11 times) and Diversity of Culture. Thus I said to Vice Governor of NTB to revitalize Senggigi Art Market or gives it to local government of West Lombok regency so that we can manage it.

We’d like to make it into a cultural center.”

Senggigi Festival 2015 lasted until Saturday (19/9/15) and presented cultural parade such as Ogoh-Ogoh Parade, Malean Sampi, Gendang Beleg and Peresean. (evi)

37 | Paradiso October, 2015

Event & Destination

Tourists’ Interest on

Krakatau Festival 2015 is Increasing

L

ampung Tourism Bureau held the 25th Krakatau Festival. The festival was firstly held in 1991.

There are many series of activities held to enliven the biggest annual festival, which was held from 23 August to 30 August 2015. The festival aims to develop tourism sector in Lampung by utilizing the icon of Mount Krakatau with various supporting activities such as Beach Party with seafood menu, poetry reading competition, Krakatau Jetski Adventure, Krakatau Tour and Lampung Culture & Tapis Carnival.

Historically, this festival was part of the attempt of Lampung people to firmly state that Mount Krakatau and its massive eruption in 1883 are part of the history of Lampung either in terms of social cultural aspect or its beautiful landscape.

“The goal of this festival is to promote Lampung tourism as well as to

38 || Paradiso Paradiso June, October, 2015 38 2015

attract domestic and foreign tourists,” said Head of Tourism and Creative Economy Bureau of Lampung Province, Herlina Warganegara during the Gala Dinner at Mahan Agung building, Bandar Lampung.

Herlina said, “Participation from other provinces to enliven the annual event is increasing. Last year, there were only two provinces participated in the cultural parade, Papua and Yogyakarta. This year, there are NTB, Banten, South Sumatera and Yogyakarta with four regencies.”

According to Herline, foreign tourists’ interest towards Krakatau festival is very high, especially tourists with special interest. “Unfortunately, during the festival only 360 participants could go to Mount Anak Krakatau,” she said.

The number of visitors is limited because Krakatau is nature conservation area. Thus, visitors are required to get

entry permission letter to conservation area (SIMAKSI) from Conservation Bureau of Lampung Province.

“Currently, we’re looking for the solution to accommodate visitors without violating the regulation of the Minister of Forestry,” said Herlina.

There were 20 foreign tourists who departed to Mount Anak Krakatau from Grand Elty Krakatoa Hotel.

“This year, foreign tourist arrival has reached 4,132,000 and domestic tourist arrival has reached 95,000 people. Our target is 15% increase for foreign tourists,” she said.

Foreign tourists visiting Lampung are mostly from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Germany.

Domestic tourists are mostly from South Sumatera, West Java, Jakarta and Banten.

Krakatau Festival is held with the support from Tourism Ministry and a number of tourism industries and

Event & Destination

involved tour guides. “Tour operators that involve in this festival are able to design tour packages and sell areas with great potentials, but still need a lot of development,” Herlina said.

“In Lampung, in addition to Mount Anak Krakatau, we also have 5 most favorite destinations among foreign tourists, namely Tanggamus, Tanjung Setia Marine

Tourism (Krui), Ti Luar Bay and Way Pisang.

This year, we also register Sulam Usus, Gulai Taboh and Seruit as intangible cultural heritage to UNESCO,” said Herlina.

Deputy Assistant of Cultural Tourism Destination Development for Tourism Ministry, Lokot Ahmad Enda during the closing of Krakatau Festival 2015 in Bandar Lampung on Sunday (30/8/15) said, “Sup-

port for the festival isn’t optimal yet. For the next festival, it would be better to have festival branding two or three months prior to the implementation considering that the festival is the core event for Lampung.”

According to Lokot, in addition to active and on-target promotion, the festival should also have a target and consider the aspect of business. In the future, there should be ready-to-sell tour packages available during the festival.

“There should be a synergy in organizing this event with tourism industry, travel agents, hotels, tour guides and many more.

I haven’t seen it now. I mean the link is not yet optimal,” said Lokot.

The packaging of the festival should be attractive so that tourists are interested to come again. Several festivals that have been designed attractively, had exact schedule and managed professionally are Jember Fashion Carnival, Tour de Ijen, Tour de Singkarak and Bali Arts Festival.

“I’m sure that Krakatau Festival can be improved in the future by considering the readiness of time for branding and advertising,” said Lokot. (evi)

39 39 | Paradiso October, 2015 | Paradiso June, 2015

Lembata

40 | Paradiso August, 2015

Lembata

41 2015 41||Paradiso ParadisoAugust, June, 2015

special event

Mengenal Potensi Wisata

Kabupaten Lamandau

Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah

42 | Paradiso October, 2015

43 | Paradiso October, 2015

Bali

IBIS Styles Bali Kuta Circle to Achieve Four-Star Hotel Certificate

auditing process by

A

the four-star hotel certificate was

Tapas & Bar and attended by the

Bali Mandiri Tourism

officially delivered by Mr. I Made

hotel management and Bali Man-

Business Certification Institute,

Sudjana as the Director of Bali

diri team. Wide range of food and

IBIS Styles Bali Kuta Circle

Mandiri to Mrs. Joan Mamahit as

beverages were served to celebrate

has successfully achieved the

General Manager of IBIS Styles

the achievement.

certificate of four-star hotel.

Bali Kuta Circle.

fter going through

44 | Paradiso October, 2015

On Friday the 28th of August,

The event was held at Kintamani

Bali

45 | Paradiso August, 2015

Bali

46 | Paradiso June, 2015

Bali

47 | Paradiso August, 2014

Bali

48 | Paradiso April, 2015

49 | Paradiso April, 2015

Bali