by A M BHATTI

LABUAN BAJO, INDONESIA (DNA) – Ms. Shana Fatina, the President Director of the Labuan Bajo tourism department has said she was looking forward to having contacts in Pakistan.

She wants encouraging especially Pakistani tourists to come to this fairy island of Labuan Bajo.

Ms. Shana Fatina said the island had a lot to offer to tourists.

because of its being home to the Komodo dragons who are locally called ora.

Komodo dragons happen to be a valuable alluring factor that amplified by its superb national park.

Ms. Shana expressed these views while talking to Pakistani delegation comprising journalists, bloggers and V-loggers. Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan Iwan S Amri is also accompanying the Pakistani media delegation.

The Pakistani delegation is in Labuan Bajo as part of its bid to explore beauty of Indonesia. The FAMTRIP 2019 is being taken place under the aegis of the Indonesia embassy in Islamabad and facilitated by the tourism ministry of Indonesia.

Ms. Shana Fatina further said the Komodo National Park was listed as UNESCO’s World Heritage Site in 1991. It is home to fascinating wildlife, both on land and underwater. The park consists of Komodo Island, Rinca Island, Padar Island and numerous smaller islands around them.

She said Labuan Bajo is known as the city of sunset. “You can find plenty of vantage points to enjoy every end of the day with a spectacular sky”.

She said Labuan Bajo was only a small fishing site that today has flourished to become the gateway to many exotic destinations in East Nusa Tenggara. Population of Labuan Bajo is around 60,000 however the accumulated population of the Island stands at 2.5 million people.

To a question she said she was ready to come to Pakistan to further explore avenues of future cooperation adding her government was keen to expand tourism infrastructure so as to woo more and more tourists.

Shana further said in past European tourists used to flock to the island nevertheless in recent years inflow of tourists from South Asia as increased a lot. Tourists from Australia and other countries also find Labuan Bajo a preferred place when it comes to exploring under water treasures of the island.

She said there are further more stunning islands around Labuan Bajo, as such as Kalong and Monkey islands, easily reachable and both offer good opportunities to explore Flores’ exotic fauna.

As there is no accommodation on these islands yet, visits are limited to day trips. However, the islands are so close to Rinca and Komodo islands that some local tour operators offer overnight stays in villages on both islands.

To a yet another question she said the source of income of local people was mainly tourism however some people were into farming and agriculture also.

She said they had some educational institutions and an international hospital providing best healthcare facilities to locals as well tourists.

She was security situation of the island was quite satisfactory as there was a dedicated tourism police for the protection and guidance of tourists.

Earlier, Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Iwan S Amri thanked the official for extending the delegation all possible facilities. The ambassador also invited her to visit Pakistan. She promised to visit Pakistan next year.

The ambassador also presented a gift to Shana Fatina. Wife of Ambassador Mrs. Rita Amri was also present on the occasion.=DNA

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