North Toraja Starts to Reopen Tourist Destinations

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Tourists enjoy views of thick fog at Lolai, Kapala Pitu, North Toraja, South Sulawesi, 19 July 2019.

MAKASSAR, KOMPAS – The North Toraja regency administration in South Sulawesi has begun to allow the reopening of tourist destinations declared as “green zones”, or free from Covid-19. Eight objects in North Toraja have been open since Saturday two weeks ago, including the centuries-old Ke’te Kesu complex of traditional houses and graveyard, the Londa stone graves, the Kalimbuang Bori megalithic site and the Tambolang nature tourism site.

“For now, [we are reopening] eight tourism objects. We have coordinated with the managers of the tourist destinations to ensure that they implement strict health protocol, provide handwashing facilities and disinfect [public areas] routinely,” North Toraja tourist agency head Yorry Lasewengan said on Monday (27/7/2020).

North Toraja is a priority tourism destination in South Sulawesi. Its natural tourism objects, culture, history and traditions have attracted a huge number of visitors through the years. In 2018, 300,000 people visited North Toraja.

Also read : Beware of New Covid-19 Clusters at Tourist Attractions

Toraja-based coffee businessman and café owner Micha Rainer Palli, 31, said he hoped the government’s decision to reopen tourist sites would boost business activities. “The economy can plummet if tourism is shut down for too long. We hope that the government and tourism site managers really adhere to health protocol,” Micha said.

Meanwhile, workers in Batam city, Riau Islands, have been hit by the tourism downturn since the Covid-19 outbreak began. Dozens of hotel workers have been on strike in demand of decent wages. This is just a tiny example of the gloomy conditions thousands of outbreak-affected tourism workers face in the region with the highest number of international tourists after Bali.

Also read : Reopened Borobudur Temple Relieves Boredom

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

One of the hotels in Batam City, Riau Islands, turned on the heart-shaped lights as a sign of solidarity with the flagging tourism conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Saturday (4/4/2020).

Harmoni Hotel Workers Union head Wahyu said on Monday that, during the Covid-19 outbreak, workers had been working only for two weeks every month. Since April 2020, they had only received half of Batam’s minimum wage of Rp 4.1 million (US$282.86) as monthly salary.

“We want 80 percent of the minimum wage as salary. However, we are still open for dialogue with the management, as employees understand that the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in a lack of guests, which paralyzed the company,” Wahyu said.

We want 80 percent of the minimum wage as salary.

Batam Tourism Workers’ Unions Federation chair Subri Wijonarko said that he estimated around 2,000 hotel workers in the city had had either their salary slashed or been unpaid and furloughed since February.

Highly dependent

The economy of Riau Islands, especially in Batam and Bintan, is highly dependent on tourism. In 2019, 2.8 million foreign tourists visited Riau Islands, 40 percent of whom came from Singapore.

Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) Batam chapter head Muhammad Mansyur that 75 of Batam’s 233 hotels had ceased operations as of May. He said that he hoped the government would exempt hotels, restaurants and entertainment centers from paying taxes. “Neighboring countries will not allow their citizens to visit Batam as the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Indonesia has reached 100,000,” Mansyur said.