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LABUAN Bajo’s Flores Authority Body (BPOLBF) is in the process of developing three sustainable tourism programs.
According to Director of BPOLBF Shana Fatina pointed out that the focus will be on the three main programs as the future of tourism development in the area. Those programs are Flores, Lembata, Alor, Bima (Floratama) tourism market, the Floratama Academy, and the preparation of the Floratama Travel Pass.
“We have worked since last year to prepare for our tourism development, so that we can bounce back in 2021 in the midst of the pandemic. This year, we developed these programs,” Fatina stated.
The BPOLBF director later explained that the Floratama market had focused on incubation and promoting creative economy products from four large islands. These islands were designated for developing sustainable tourism in an effort to support Labuan Bajo to become a super premium tourist destination.
“The second program is the Floratama Academy intended as a series of incubation programs to boost business capacity in the tourism and creative economy sector in Floratama and the surrounding area. The incubation programs will be conducted both offline and online with help from experts,” she said.
In addition, Floratama Academy aims to develop the potential of tourism and creative economy businesses. The academy has provided access to marketing and funding for tourism and creative economy businesses.
“Activities from the academy also increased this industry’s development by providing insights and human resources to encourage the growth of the tourism and creative economy business,” Fatina stated. She also noted that the tourism industry in Floratama will create more jobs and networking opportunities.
The Floratama Travel Pass is a thematic tourism product in several tourism villages that were initiated first in Bali.
“In 2020, we had created six thematic tourism sites, such as weaving and adventure routes, and we also built a traditional tourism village for sustainable tourism development,” she pointed out.
To expedite tourism recovery in the midst of the pandemic, the BPOLBF also helped to oversee the acceleration of the vaccination program for Floratama’s tourism officers.
“We targeted 100 percent of West Manggarai’s tourism officers to be vaccinated, and by far, we had 70 percent of the tourism destinations certified for Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environmental Sustainability (CHSE),” Fatina concluded. [antaranews/photo special]
