Gunung Kidul attracts thousands of holidaymakers

The tourist attractions in Gunung Kidul District in the Special Region of Yogyakarta were visited by 47,000 local and foreign tourists during the Easter holiday on April 14 to 16, 2017.

Long Easter holiday has contributed to an increase in the number of visitors to Gunung Kidul this year to explore so many beautiful beaches, amazing caves, beautiful scenery, and waterfalls in the district.

Gunung Kidul has several natural tourist attractions, such as the Ngrancah waterfall in Ngleri Village, along with the pristine beaches of Gesing, Ngrenehan, Ngobaran, and Baron, in addition to Krakal, Sunduk, Watu Lawang, Drini, and Sepanjang.

Local Culture and Tourism Office spokesman Hary Sukmono remarked in Gunung Kidul on Monday that during the long Easter holiday this year, 32,000 visited Gunung Kidul on Friday and Saturday, and 15,000 on Sunday.

"Thus, the total number of visitors during the Easter holiday this year reached 47,000 people," Sukmono said.

He added that based on reports received from several tourist attractions, the total revenue generated from 47,000 tourists visiting the areas amounted to Rp411 million, or exceeded the target of Rp400 million. 

But he remarked that the amount of revenue generated from tourists visiting Gunung Kidul during the Lebaran Holidays in 2016 was much bigger than that in the Easter holidays this year.

Around 250,000 tourists visited numerous tourist attractions in Gunung Kidul in a week during the during the 2016 Lebaran holidays with the total revenue generated from the visitors was amounted to Rp1.57 billion, according to Sukmono.

The Gunung Kidul local government in Yogyakarta is making efforts to promote and develop the districts tourist spots under the framework of its tourism investment development mission that will focus on natural tourism, village tourism, cultural tourism, and special-interest tourism.

Gunung Kidul District is blessed with several natural, marine, and cultural attractions that continue to attract tourists from around the world.

Hence, the local government is making all out efforts to develop the district into a leading tourist destination by preparing a coastal tourism master plan.

The coastal tourism master plan, expected to be completed in 2017, will be used for managing the potential of every beach in Gunung Kidul District.

Gunung Kidul is endowed with several pristine beaches, and most of them still require effective management to transform them into national and international tourist destinations and large investments both from the government for infrastructure as well as from the private sector for the development of hotels, resorts, golf courses, and restaurants.

Gunung Kidul Regional Secretary Drajat Ruswandono stated in the district recently that for the preparation of the coastal tourism master plan, all stakeholders, including the tour operators and Yogyakarta Palace officials, will be involved to discuss the management of all coastal areas in the district.

Ruswandono noted that with the coastal tourism master plan, all beaches in Gunung Kidul will be developed according to their respective characteristics.

After the formulation of the coastal tourism master plan is completed, a detailed technical plan will be created to manage the beaches for tourism and economic activities and residential areas.

At a seminar on the "Development of Gunung Kidul Tourism Industry," initiated by the alumni of Kolose de Brito Senior High School in Yogyakarta in November 2016, Bank Central Asia (BCA) Director Suwignyo Budiman called for the governments support to develop the tourism industry in Gunung Kidul.

Budiman called on the government to cooperate with private parties for developing and improving the tourism potential in Gunung Kidul.

Speaking at the seminar, Budiman remarked that BCA was providing support to the efforts to develop the tourism industry in several areas in Indonesia, including Gunung Kidul District.

According to Budiman, the support was realized in the form of the seminar to explore ideas for developing strategies and initiatives to stimulate the tourism investment climate in Gunung Kidul.

"Thus, in future, Gunung Kidul is expected to become one of the important national and international tourist destinations," Budiman pointed out.

Currently, Yogyakarta has become the largest tourist destination in Indonesia after Bali, and the government must focus on increasing tourist visits, he emphasized.

Budiman added that the government and all parties must work together to develop the attractions and entertainment destinations that can make tourists stay for a longer period of time in Yogyakarta, especially in Gunung Kidul.

In light of this, the Gunung Kidul district government is making efforts to promote and develop the districts tourist spots under the framework of its tourism investment development mission.

The mission is focused on natural, village, cultural, and special-interest tourism.

In addition, the local government will intensify efforts to provide improved infrastructure facilities at tourist attractions in the district.

In previous years, the local government had built and renovated various supporting infrastructure facilities, such as souvenir shops and restaurants.

Gunung Kidul also has some popular tourism villages, such as Putat, Nglanggeran, Bendung, Ngeposari, Beji, Bleberan, Umbulrejo, and Kemadang.

In a bid to develop these tourism villages, officials from the Gunung Kidul Culture and Tourism office will provide English language training and tourism management training lessons to the villagers.(*)  

Source: ANTARA