According to the Deputy Regent of West Manggarai, dr. Yulianus Weng, M.Kes., 80% of the circulation of money in Labuan Bajo occurs in the archipelago, while on the mainland only 20%. This problem became the reason for the FTUI Architecture Department’s community service activities in the tourist area of Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara.
“We offer our expertise in urban area design, especially in the coastal area of Labuan Bajo. The planned output of this activity will be related to tourism activities in the mainland,” said Ir. Antony Sihombing, MPD., Ph.D., Head of the FTUI Community Service Team when conducting field surveys and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) with stakeholders related to the development of tourism activities in the Labuan Bajo area from 24 July to 2 August 2022.
The FGD was attended by the Head of the West Manggarai Development Planning, Research, Regional Development Agency (BP4D), Petrus Antonius Rasyid; Head of the Department of Human Settlements, Natural Resources, and Spatial Planning of West Manggarai, Severinus Kurniadi; the Managing Director of the Labuan Bajo Flores Authority (BPOLBF), Shana Fatina; and a representative of the Cipta Karya Satker (KSPN), Heru. This activity is part of a series of Community Service (Pengmas) activities with the theme “Development of Economic Quality and the Labuan Bajo Region through Eco-Tourism”.
The FTUI Community Service Team offers guidance on visual space management through signage regulations. “This needs to be planned from the start to avoid visual pollution that can hinder tourists from enjoying natural scenery such as sunrise and sunset which is one of Labuan Bajo’s biggest tourist attractions. We also feel it is very important to create markers that are easy to understand, especially for tourists who have just arrived and are still unfamiliar with the area,” said Antony.
The regulation of the Labuan Bajo area also needs to be equipped with the right tools to convert the value of the area to regional income from tourism. The Community Service Team from the FTUI Architecture Department will also complete the guidelines made with the right marketing and branding strategies and integrate them with the slogan “Enchanting Bajo” which has been proclaimed by the Government.
The strategies developed by the FTUI Community Service team include identifying the target market for tourism in the Labuan Bajo area, the types of tourism that are of interest, and making an attractive travel plan for tourists to increase their interest in traveling longer in the main Labuan Bajo, programs that need to be held at certain times and how to maintain sustainability so that it can make tourists want to come back to Labuan Bajo.
Met separately, the Dean of FTUI, Prof. Dr. Heri Hermansyah, ST., M.Eng., IPU said, “It is extraordinary what the FTUI Architecture Department team has initiated. Hopefully what has been proclaimed and programmed this time can see the results in the next one or two months and the results can be input for tourism development in the Labuan Bajo Region”.
Community service activities from the FTUI Architecture Department have been held since March and will end in November 2022. The Community Service agenda is a routine activity carried out by the University of Indonesia every year. This year, the University of Indonesia is collaborating with the Regional Government of West Manggarai Regency so that this activity is directed to the Labuan Bajo area.
Prior to the departure of the Service Team to Labuan Bajo, UI and the local government held a zoom conference to coordinate activities to be carried out while in the field.
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Public Communication Bureau
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia