River Tourism Revival during Ramadan

Name: River Tourism Revival during Ramadan
Uploaded: 2022-04-22T03:52:37Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: River tourism in Banjarmasin city, is thriving again in the evenings of this year’s Ramadan. Dozens of tourist boats earlier only moored to the pier are now cruising along to enliven Martapura River tourism.

River tourism in Banjarmasin city, is thriving again in the evenings of this year’s Ramadan. Dozens of tourist boats earlier only moored to the pier are now cruising along to enliven Martapura River tourism.

JUMARTO YULIANUS

· 5 minutes read

It was almost 10 p.m. and several motorboats were still cruising back and forth on Martapura River, Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Wednesday (20/4/2022). On the roofs of the boats dozens of people were sitting to enjoy the river trips. They were having fun while taking selfies, photos and making video recordings of their surroundings now and again.

After fasting the whole day in the blazing hot weather, the nighttime cruise along Martapura River, with its gentle breeze, was very refreshing.

“Every night in the month of Ramadan, many people cruise by motorboat,” said Adul, 46, the helmsman of a river-cruising tourist boat.

Tourist boats are again teeming with passengers during Ramadan this year, after two years of inactivity due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After two years of silence, in this year’s Ramadan, the river is again roaring.

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Every night, Adul and 26 other tourist-boat helmsmen at the pier of Taman Maskot Bekantan (Monkey Garden) get their turn to carry passengers. They take 18 passengers on every river cruising trip. A passenger is charged Rp 10,000 (US$0.70) for an approximately 30-minute cruise along Martapura River.

Tickets for tourist boat trips are sold by Koperasi Maju Karya Bersama, a transportation cooperative of river tourism in Banjarmasin. “We as members of the cooperative receive Rp 150,000 per trip,” he revealed.

With the income earned, Adul is certain to take home Rp 100,000 every night after diesel oil and food cost deductions. “During peak hours, such as Saturday evenings, we can cruise twice in one night. It’s pretty good,” he said.

Besides the pier of Taman Maskot Bekantan, a number of tourist boats also berth at the pier of Menara Pandang (Viewing Tower). There, many more boats can be found, totaling about 40. “The cost is the same, Rp 10,000 for a river cruise as far as Kampung Hijau,” said Isam, 50, a boat helmsman.

We enjoyed our fast-breaking with senior high school friends. After the fast-breaking reunion, we proceeded to the park zone and went on a boat trip.

On Wednesday night, tourist boats at both piers were in high demand. Many people were queueing for their boat trips, especially after evening prayers. As it was getting late in the night, Banjarmasin’s tourism zone was even more busy. Those packing the park zone were mostly young people. After cruising, they would sit and chat by the riverside, while savoring food and drinks.

Tika, 20, a college student in Banjarmasin, said she and her peers chose to relax in the park tourism zone and cruise by motorboat after breaking their fast together. “We enjoyed our fast-breaking with senior high school friends. After the fast-breaking reunion, we proceeded to the park zone and went on a boat trip,” she added.

Passenger number up

Chairperson of Koperasi Maju Karya Bersama (Cooperative to Advance Careers Together), Supiani Yanto, said the number of tourist boat passengers increased in this year’s Ramadan, particularly during the night. “It’s almost the same as it was before the pandemic,” said Yanto.

In the past week, 27 tourist boats berthing at the pier of Taman Maskot Bekantan got their turn to cruise at least once every night. On Friday and Saturday nights each boat could take two trips.

Tourist boats on their night river cruises only travel back and forth from the boats’ mooring pier to Kampung Hijau, Sungai Bilu subdistrict, East Banjarmasin, which takes around 30 minutes.

For a long-distance trip, tourist boats usually cruise in the morning or afternoon. The available destinations are Pasar Terapung Kuin and Pasar Terapung Lok Baintan (floating markets), Soto Bang Amat (soup café), Kembang Island or Banjarmasin city for sightseeing. The cruises to the river tourist destinations range in cost from Rp 300,000 to Rp 600,000 per boat for one trip. A boat is allowed to transport 15 people.

“On Ramadan nights, people are normally sailing until 10 p.m. Afterward, they usually just relax in the park until sahur (predawn meal),” added Yanto.

Yanto hopes the atmosphere of Idul Fitri this year can again be like that before the pandemic, after observing the renewed activity this Ramadan. Many people are already venturing out to enjoy river tourism activities, although they comply with health protocols, especially by wearing face masks.

Adul also expects this year’s Ramadan enthusiasm to continue until Idul Fitri, and hopes that it is a sign of the economic recovery to come. “Hopefully the pandemic will soon be over to enable common people like us to earn a living as we did before,” he said.

Head of the Regional Technical Executive Unit (UPTD) of the Banjarmasin Park Tourism Zone, Naziza Muzhar, said that officially, there was in fact no instruction yet from Banjarmasin Mayor Ibnu Sina to open the park tourism zone. Therefore, the tourist spots Menara Pandang and Rumah Anno are not yet open to the public.

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However, the park tourism zone is also a public area, so the movement of people and visitors cannot be fully controlled.

“We can only continuously make appeals and communicate to the public the need to apply health protocols. Tourist boats, for instance, are allowed to operate by reducing the number of passengers and observing proper distancing,” he said.

For economic recovery in the tourism sector, according to Naziza, the tourism zone is still relied upon. This park tourism zone has its own power of attraction so that even without promotion, visitors keep coming.

“We focus more on appeals for and socialization of health protocol compliance so that it can be realized in tourist destinations that observe health protocol principles,” he added.

Finally, the continuity of tourist spots should be maintained so that all economic activities can proceed without any fear of Covid-19 transmission.

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.

Editor:

SYAHNAN RANGKUTI

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