Maintaining the Reputation of Karimunjawa Tourism

Almost every year, tourists got trapped on Karimunjawa. Tourists could be informed of weather forecasts. That way, they could choose the right time to go to Karimunjawa

KOMPAS/KRISTI D UTAMI

Hundreds of tourists stuck in Karimunjawa, Jepara arrived at Tanjung Emas Harbor, Semarang, Central Java, Wednesday (28/12/2022). The tourists were transported by Pelni's Kelimutu Motor Boat from Karimunjawa, Tuesday (27/12/2022)..

Financial losses caused by the termination of shipping services to Karimunjawa Island, Jepara, Central Java, did not discourage tourism business owners on the island from providing excellent service to tourists. They also voluntarily protected the safety of tourists and the sustainability of Karimunjawa tourism.

The weather on Karimunjawa Island on Thursday (22/12/2022) got worse. It rained heavily accompanied by strong wind and thunder. The wave height at that time reached 3.5 to 4 meters. The average height of the ferry hull that provides shipping services is only about 3 meters. Because of this, the local government decided to stop shipping activities from Jepara to Karimunjawa and vice versa starting on Friday (23/12) at midnight.

"After the news was received, hotel and inn owners consulted and agreed to help ease the burden of the tourists [who couldn't go home]. We offered discounts of up to 50 percent for lodging,” said Sudarmono, a hotel owner in Karimunjawa, on Wednesday (28/12/2022).

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They also agreed to provide free lodging facilities and food for travelers who could not afford to pay for accommodation while stranded on the Karimunjawa island.

In Karimunjawa, there are at least 110 inns and 20 hotels. Most of the rooms have been booked by tourists until Jan. 5, 2023. The owners of hotels and other tourism businesses could suffer millions of rupiah in losses due to the bad weather.

As tourism business activities were stopped, Karimunjawa residents had to use their savings to survive. They could not go fishing because of the weather condition.

“If there are tourism business actors or people of Karimunjawa who are in trouble, they will be assisted. Residents who can afford contributions will help residents who can't afford it so that everyone can survive together," said Sudarmono who is also the chairman of the Karimunjawa Tourism Bureau Association.

If there are tourism business actors or people of Karimunjawa who are in trouble, they will be assisted.

Efforts to help 500 tourists who were stuck in Karimunjawa were also being carried out by the government. The Jepara regency administration wrote to the Transportation Ministry, which latter assigned the vessel KM Kelimutu owned by PT Indonesian National Shipping (Pelni) to evacuate the tourists.

The KM Kelimutu usually serves the Surabaya-Sampit-Semarang-Kumai-Semarang-Karimunjawa route. According to the schedule, the ship, weighing 1,400 tons with a capacity of 1,000 passengers, would have had to stop in Karimunjawa on Friday (30/12).

On the special assignment, the KM Kelimutu arrived earlier in Karimunjawa on Tuesday (27/12). The ship departed from Legon Bajak Harbor, Karimunjawa, on Tuesday at 10:34 p.m. and arrived at Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang on Wednesday at 4:50 a.m.

Acting Jepara Regent Edy Supriyanta, together with members of the Jepara Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, picked up the tourists in Semarang on Wednesday. "A total of four buses were prepared, two buses from the Jepara administration and two from the Central Java administration," he said.

Number one

“We don't want joy to turn into a disaster. I order all related SOEs to always respond quickly and pay attention to safety aspects without compromise," said State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Erick Thohir in a written statement on Wednesday.

Solihatun, 46, was very grateful for getting a discount from the hotel manager in Karimunjawa. The tourist from Welahan, Jepara, was on vacation with his children and grandchildren. His family was only charged Rp 1 million per day, half of the normal rate of Rp 2 million per day.

“I got extra facilities, namely free food. We were very grateful because it lightened our burden,” said Solihatun. He and his family had failed to return on Friday due to bad weather.

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João, a tourist from Portugal, was also satisfied. The man, who had visited Karimunjawa three times, said he would not give up on going back there.

"The marine tourism in Karimunjawa is good. The people there are also kind," he said.

João acknowledged that he did not receive any information regarding the weather forecast for Karimunjawa. He hoped that, in the future, tourists could be informed of weather forecasts. That way, they could choose the right time to go to Karimunjawa, he added.

“We just received notification regarding the potential for bad weather the day before. In the future, we will communicate more intensively with the relevant authorities. We will also deliver the weather information to tourists to reduce the risk of tourists being trapped due to bad weather," said Sudarmono.

Almost every year, tourists got trapped on Karimunjawa, he said. The worst incident occurred in 2017, when some 800 tourists were stranded for several days.

Edy promised that the Jepara administration would improve the weather forecast dissemination mechanism in the future.

Edy appealed to the public not to travel to Karimunjawa at least until 31 Dec., because extreme weather was expected to occur until the end of 2022. After the situation returned to normal, tourists would be allowed to return to Karimunjawa.

Cooperation between parties is needed to reduce the risk of similar incidents recurring. Tourists also need to monitor weather forecasts issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) so that they know the weather conditions at the tourist sites they plan to go to.

This is important because, as Erick Thohir emphasized, in the tourism industry, tourist safety is number one.

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.