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ARBOREK Tourism Village in Raja Ampat Regency, West Papua, is included in the top 50 best tourist villages in the 2021 Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI) event. This is expected to encourage the revival of tourism and the creative economy of Arborek Tourism Village by increasing tourist visits and opening up employment opportunities wider community.
According to the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiagan Uno during a visit to Arborek Tourism Village, Wednesday (10/27), said Arborek Tourism Village is a complete destination for tourists. Having a panoramic view of beautiful natural beauty and various tourist attractions, this tourist village located in the eastern part of Indonesia also has a line of high-quality creative economic products with local wisdom.
“This is tourism based on nature and culture. Hopefully this event (ADWI 2021) can open up opportunities for the rise of tourism and the creative economy and jobs will be available again,” said Sandiaga Uno.
ADWI 2021 is one of the Indonesian tourism development programs run by the Tourism Ministry. In addition to the competition which presents seven categories, ADWI also presents a variety of assistance and training as well as capacity building for the managers of tourist villages which are expected to be able to encourage the development of tourist villages into sustainable tourism.
ADWI 2021 also collects databases/updates of information from tourist villages so that managers of Indonesian tourist villages can network and improve collaboration.
“We hope that the economy in West Papua, especially the Arborek Raja Ampat Tourism Village, can continue to develop,” Sandiaga stated.
To get to Arborek Tourism Village it takes about 1.5-2 hours drive from Sorong port by speed boat. Although it has a long travel time, it pays off with a charming natural panorama.
Arborek Tourism Village, which is inhabited by about 48 families and consists of 217 people, has a high commitment to developing various community-based village potentials. One of them is the potential for underwater tourism which is in great demand by domestic and foreign tourists because there are various kinds of marine life.
When they set foot in the village which has an area of 7.2 hectares, visitors are immediately greeted with a stretch of white sand that surrounds the village, rows of coconut trees, and mangrove trees along the southern and western coasts.
For visitors who want to spend the night, there are nine homestays which are located directly facing the sea. So that visitors can enjoy the moment of sunrise and sunset. If you are lucky, visitors can also see small fish, walking sharks, and others in the homestay area.
On that occasion, Minister Sandiaga also had the opportunity to dive and enjoy the underwater beauty of Arborek Tourism Village as well as plant coral reefs. Cultivation of coral reefs is one thing that the people of Arborek Tourism Village continue to strengthen.
In addition to the amazing nature, the arts and culture of the local community are still very strong. Such as the Mansorandak tradition or the tradition of stepping on plates to welcome relatives who go abroad far from their place of origin. In addition, there is the Land Dance, Rowing Dance, Cakalele Dance, and Flute Tambur.
Then culinary delights that have the typical taste of Raja Ampat, such as ikuy, papeda, sinole made from sago, aewon cake made from mangrove fruit, manicure fruit or sweet potato porang, and coconut sago.
For visitors who want to buy souvenirs, there are various handicraft products made by mamas in Arborek village. Like the noken Arborek, which is a bag made from pandan leaves with a woven manufacturing technique. Noken bags are usually used to carry groceries from the market. As well as woven hats in the shape of rays and starfish and clothes made of bark.
“The creative economy products are extraordinary, such as the bracelets that I bought are of very high quality and several other products that I bought as well. So that we become ‘rojali’, the group must buy, not ‘rohali’, the group is just looking at it,” he added.
On that occasion, Minister Sandiaga also invited domestic tourists to visit Raja Ampat. Although getting to this district requires a lot of time and money, it is in accordance with the quality and experience gained.
“We need to tell tourists that we are on vacation #DiIndonesiaAja, because Raja Ampat is one of the best in Indonesia. Foreigners just flock here,” Minister Sandiaga concluded. [traveltext.id]
