A resident strolls along during a sunrise at Sape Port in Sape district, Bima regency, West Nusa Tenggara, on Thursday (30/3). The port, which is located on the eastern tip of West Nusa Tenggara, offers a second entrance to the Komodo National Park in East Nusa Tenggara.
Its location, which is adjacent to Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara, does not automatically make Sape, Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara, desirable. Sape has a number of beautiful white sand beaches and even the nearby small islands are interesting. However, the potential of the province has not been properly tapped into.
Jalan Yos Sudarso in Gudang hamlet, Bugis village, was deserted at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday (29/3). Not many people were visible. Most of them seemed to prefer staying at home with their family members.
Every so often, trucks passed by on the road leading to Sape Port. The trucks stayed overnight there before heading the next day to Labuan Bajo Port, East Nusa Tenggara, on board a ship for eight hours.
In the port area, there was no crowd. There were no coffee shops; not even a café. Restaurants closed before dusk.
"This is the scenery and atmosphere in Sape at night. Quiet. Those looking for a crowd would do so usually every Saturday evening. Usually youngsters hang around the port," said Burhanuddin, 27, a local youth figure.
He said Sape should not continuously be like this and that there should be tourist activities. "Now Sape is only used as a transit site by a small group of tourists who want to go to Komodo," Burhanuddin said.
Ahjaf, 45, the manager of an inn at Sape Port, said Sape was far different from how it was in the 1990s. At that time there were no direct flights to Labuan Bajo, meaning Sape was the only way for tourists to reach Komodo.
"At that time there were only flights from Denpasar to Bima. So inevitably foreign tourists going to Komodo had to go to Sape first. At that time the number of foreign tourist staying in my inn reached 50-60 people per month. Now only 10 people have come by," he said.
Huge potential
Ahjaf shared Burhanuddin\'s remarks, saying that even though Sape Port was no longer the main gate to Komodo, the inn in Sape should be able to accommodate more guests if the tourism sector there and its surrounding areas grows. Unfortunately, such has not been the case.
Sape and its surrounding areas have great tourism potential. Based on data of the Sape district administration, the area, which is located about 44.6 kilometers to the east of Raba, the capital of Bima regency, has at least 13 small islands (locally known as Gili). The beauty of the islands, two of which are inhabited, is not limited to its beaches, but also its coral reefs.
For example, there is Bajo Pulo, an inhabited island with beautiful white sand beaches, and Gili Banta, which has beautiful scenery in its waters, similar to Raja Ampat, Papua.
Beyond the small islands, the land of the district, which has a population of 61,241 people,is lined with long sandy beaches complete with dense mangroves. In addition to the marine tourism, the potential for tourism development in Sape includes, among others, the huge production of fish, onions and rice.
With its strategic position, Sapa could act as the gate connecting nearby tourist spots, such as in Lambu district, where there are numerous tourist sites, like Lariti Beach and its “parted” sea, Pink Beach with its pink sands or Kelapa Island with islands resembling Raja Ampat.
The nearest region from Sape, Wera district, has the Sangean tourist area and Mount Sangeang. The two could act as magnets for foreign tourists.
"It must be recognized that it is not only Sape and its surrounding areas with tourism potential, but also Bima regency. However, it is better to stop talking about it; let us start determiningthe focus and priority. Sape could be one of them," said Burhanuddin.
Sape district head Kamarudin said there was an intention to develop the tourism sector, especially with its existing potentials. However, all of them needed supportin many areas, especially with regard to infrastructure. The tourism infrastructure both at sea and ashore isquite limited.
Based on Kompas’ observations, there have not been any professionally arranged tourist packages to Sape and nearby islands at the level of those offered to Gili Trawangan, North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. If there is any, the package is offered on a limited basis.
Yet to take sides
The chairman of Taman Siswa Education College in Bima, Ibnu Khaldun, said the low growth rate of tourism development in Sape and Bima regency was because the local administration hadyet to fully support the management aspect of local tourism.
"More than 20 years in, tourism in Bima regency has not been seriously managed. The fact is that so far the Bima administration has not had a master plan to develop the tourism potential in the area. This has actually affected policy making," said Ibnu Khaldun.
The head of the Bima Regional Development Planning Agency, Muzakkir, admitted there was great opportunity in the area when taking into account the three national destination lanes, Bali, Lombok and Komodo. "The potential is big, especially for tourism," he said.
According to Muzakkir, tourism development in Bima regency and in Sape must be completely conceptualized, with the local administration expected to take a leading role. "First we have to sort out the legal aspects, for example, by preparing a master plan for tourism development. Additionally, the local administration should identify the existing potential for tourism, the people and the culture," he said.
Opportunities, he went on, for investment must be opened and, correspondingly, community preparedness is also needed for communicating with tourism business owners, business circles, communities, activists, tourists, academics and district heads up to village heads.
"It could be that someday the tourism in Bali and Lombok is saturated. In such a scenario, we have to be prepared in order to be used as more than just a stopover," said Musakkir.
