West Papua is a district in Indonesia that has many potentials in various sectors. The area is gifted with incredible landscapes and natural wealth. Unfortunately, all the gifts have not been optimally utilized yet so that most Papuans still cannot feel their benefits.
Indeed, in the tourism sector, some developments have been seen recently. One of them is the popularity increase of some attractions, mainly Raja Ampat. The beauty of Raja Ampat is currently quite popular around the world. This makes many visitors are just interested to visit it, mainly them who are deeply in love with beaches and water sport. In Indonesia itself, Raja Ampat becomes one of the most famous tourist destinations after some places like Bali and Yogyakarta.
The Raja Ampat thing is a good phenomenon for sure. But it is not enough. The district still has many other objects that have not yet been recognized by people outside. Some strategies are important to implement to develop the tourism sector in West Papua even more. Here are those strategies.
Establishing an Official Department for Tourism
So far, almost all the tourist attractions in West Papua are managed by certain communities or tribes. Some of them are developed but many others are not due to the limitation of access and facilities. Therefore, for the sake of the West Papua development, a particular official department for tourism must be established.
The department works as the umbrella for attractions and other related sectors so that they can be managed well. Sure, with an official department, those destinations have more chances to get funds from the government. The fund is utilized to build up facilities, hire workers and staff, guarantee the visitors’ safety, and many more. It is expected that visitors can feel more comfortable when visiting attractions in West Papua.
Access Repairs
While the landscape of West Papua is great, Indonesia must admit that the infrastructure development there is far left behind compared with some other islands. Indeed, some improvements are seen in some years later and they should be going on. The infrastructures to establish and add are including roads leading to the attractions, facilities, transportation means, and many more.
More importantly, the human resource is also very important to enhance. The government should focus on how local people can get education fairly. It is through the establishments of schools, courses, and more. In relation to tourism, it is essential also to build vocational schools or colleges with tourism and hospitality as the majors.
Promotion Improvement
No matter how many beautiful places in Papua are, it means nothing without any promotion. Yes, the lack of recognition causes those places not known by others. Undeniably, being unknown indeed still has some benefits for the attractions. They tend to be cleaner and free from pollution as a consequence of many visitors.
But if tourism development is the focus here, such consequences later can be overcome. One of the solutions is by improving promotion. It should not be a big deal in this internet era as attractions in West Papua can be promoted and advertised through social media. With the fund given by the government, it is also a good idea to hire influencers to endorse the places on their platforms.
Safety Improvement
It is not a secret that some areas in Papua have conflicts. Those conflicts are whether between local tribes, local tribes, and comers, or local people and foreign companies. Sure, it should be a task for anyone related to reducing those conflicts. If it is possible, they even must be diminished at all. Therefore, it is getting easier to conduct the West Papua district development.
