After being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and fading for two and a half years, the tourism sector is slowly starting to revive. A number of tourist destinations in Indonesia are back on the rise, one of which is tourism in the Alor Islands, Alor Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Composed of small islands, Alor Regency has quite popular marine charm, one of its mainstays is Marisa Village on Kangge Island.

Kangge Island has a variety of tourist attractions. Tourists who come to this area are treated to a variety of tourist activities such as island hopping, snorkeling, diving, sport fishing, and sunfish watching tours. If lucky, tourists can also meet hordes of whales and dolphins that come to the surface in the waters of Marisa Village. Some of the mainstay beaches that are very popular with tourists include Wato Pattik Beach (Batu Peti), and Boluwai Lorok Beach. The waters of Kangge Island are included in the management of the Regional Conservation Area.

To support the improvement of the management of the potential and attractiveness of marine tourism in the Pantar Strait Regional Conservation Area and the surrounding sea, the Alor Regency Government, together with the WWF Indonesia Foundation and PT Epson Indonesia, as well as the NTT Provincial Maritime and Fisheries Office of the Alor Regency area and the Kangge Island community run a coral reef rehabilitation program. This program is not only carried out to restore the coral ecosystem, but also aims to create a new tourist attraction object with a sustainable concept.

The community has a very vital role in building sustainable tourism. The community as a host is responsible for providing a variety of information and assisting tourists who visit, to be able to realize environmentally friendly tourism management while providing a memorable experience. One of the efforts to manage sustainable tourism is realized through technical assistance, as well as capacity building to village communities through the Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis) of Marisa Village.

Pokdarwis Marisa Village is one of the local communities who believe that tourism can have a good impact on their lives. And they have proven that the principles they promote in sustainable tourism bring safety to nature and the tourists who visit Marisa Village, Kangge Island.

"Initially, residents only focused on being fishermen, well, with the tourism approach it was able to have an impact on the economic income of residents. It is not yet evenly distributed, but it has improved a lot, plus the community has begun to gradually leave illegal fishing to protect natural resources on Kangge Island," said Rahmat Laba, a member of the Pokdarwis.

Visit the Signing Blue website to see more responsible tourism destinations and businesses in Indonesia: www.signingblue.com