Rabu, 26 Jun 2019 18:44
Daerah : Jakarta
By Fardah
Jakarta, 26/6
(Antara) - The Raja Ampat Enchantment Festival will showcase the wonders
of Raja Ampat as a marine tourism destination to divers, marine lovers
and adventurers from October 18 - 21, 2019.
Named the Worlds
Best Snorkeling and Diving destination by CNN Travel, Raja Ampat, has
prepared three locations for the international marine tourism event,
notably Waisai, Sapokren Village and Mayalibit Bay.
The
festival themed Exotic Raja Ampat, is being organized at different
locations with the objective of boosting the local economy and
empowering the indigenous people.
The locals will offer
services such as homestay, speedboat riding, longboat tours, and other
means of transportation to tourists during the festival to be organized
by the Raja Ampat district administration, with the support of the West
Papua Provincial Government and the Tourism Ministry, according to the
head of the Raja Ampat Tourism Office, Yusdi Lamatenggo.
Raja
Ampat is often called "Heaven on Earth", "Miracle of Papua", "Underwater
Paradise on Earth", or "Real Wonder of the World" for its mesmerizing
marine panorama.
The district has a geopark that is much more beautiful than the one in Halong Bay, Vietnam.
In
2012, the district was included in the list of Real Wonders of the
World. It has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most beautiful
diving sites, and rated number one for its rich marine flora and fauna
diversity.
The district has around 1,700 islands, including
the unoccupied and most beautiful Isle of Wayag, which is made of karst
or limestone from other isles.
Located at the heart of the
Coral Triangle, Raja Ampat covers an area of 9.8 million hectares of
land and sea and is home to 540 species of coral, more than 1,000 types
of reef fish and 700 types of mollusks. Whales, sharks, dolphins,
dugongs, and turtles are often spotted in the waters.
One of
the most unique sea creatures spotted here is the Kalabia or Wobbegong
shark. Also known as carpet shark, this remarkable shark is relatively
smaller with a flat body compared to most sharks and is well camouflaged
with a symmetrical line pattern that makes it look like a carpet.
But
what makes this amazing is these unique creatures seem to spend most of
their time on the seabed walking on their fins, which also gave them
another name: The Walking Shark.
The festival will also
highlight traditional arts and cultural performances of West Papua and
Papua. There will also be underwater photography competitions, decorated
traditional boats, swimming competitions, Volley Beach, seafood cooking
competitions and bazaars.
In the meantime, the district
administration has made steady efforts to raise the standard and quality
of its human resources engaged in tourism, specifically local tourist
guides.
Tourist guides are the spearheads of the tourism
industry here owing to their one-on-one interactions with domestic and
foreign tourists arriving in the district, Yusuf Salim, secretary of the
district government, stated recently.
In other words, tourist
guides are the local envoys, who personally represent the district
administration by offering the best possible services to tourists, Salim
noted.
Varied training programs should be imparted to tour
guides to broaden their horizon and deepen their knowledge to enable
them to offer best services to tourists.
"Raja Ampat would
always be imprinted on the minds of tourists worldwide if its tourist
guides were to serve them exceptionally," he pointed out.
Therefore,
the district administration has always praised and supported efforts to
improve the competencies of local tourist guides.
"Thus, the
tourism sector will be able to offer optimal benefits to the local
community by boosting economic growth and improving their welfare," he
stated.
The district authorities also organized a training camp for dive guides to ensure better services to tourists.
Some 30 local dive guides were taking part in the week-long training, held from June 24.
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