REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PADANG -- Sari Lenggogeni, an academician at the Andalas University (Unand) in West Sumatra, has opined that the local government has yet to set its focus on tourism development.

"Tourism has not been included in the Regional Midterm Development Plan (RPJMD), and therefore, some districts and cities in the province have not had a master plan on tourism development," Lenggogeni remarked here on Monday.

The academician made the statement during a public discussion on Challenge and Potential of West Sumatra during the era of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) organized by the Indonesian Journalists Association in cooperation with Bank Mandiri.

According to Lenggogeni, if the local government wants to develop tourism, it must start with a good plan and become one of the priorities of development.

Further, she noted that the implementation of marketing activities to promote West Sumatra's tourism was not headed in the right direction.

However, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has affirmed that the development of supporting infrastructure in the Mandeh Integrated Marine Tourism Area in Pesisir Selatan District, West Sumatra Province, should continue to be accelerated.

The Integrated Marine Tourism Area of Mandeh is touted to be the "Raja Ampat" of West Sumatra, with seven thousand hectares of coral reefs, and most of them being diving spots, which offer scenic underwater beauty.

The Raja Ampat archipelago in the East Indonesian province of West Papua is well known as being part of the Coral Triangle, which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth.

Yahya noted that the Mandeh Integrated Marine Tourism Area in West Sumatra is also similar to Raja Ampat, and therefore, the development of supporting infrastructure must be sped up.

"After President Joko Widodi's (Jokowi's) visit to Mandeh some time ago, the development of supporting physical infrastructure continues to be accelerated," Yahya remarked.

The minister noted that some 100 toilets were being built as supporting facilities in the Mandeh tourism area as on weekends, it was always crowded with domestic tourists keen on exploring the area.

"The construction of some 100 toilets is underway in the Mandeh Integrated Marine Tourism Area, with Rp1.2 billion of funds from the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the Navy," Yahya affirmed.

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