Classy Destinations in Semarang Atas

Tourism in Semarang, Central Java, is not only about a historical trail in the Old City and Lawang Sewu. In the southern region, there are beautiful hills with natural attractions that help support the people\'s economy.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

Visitors take pictures of the Jatibarang reservoir in the tourist area of Goa Kreo, Kandri, Gunungpati district, Semarang city, Central Java, on Tuesday (10/12/2019). Goa Kreo is one of the tourist destinations in the southern hilly region of Semarang.

The rain had just stopped on Tuesday afternoon, when Asofa Didit, 21, entered the Goa Kreo tourist area in Kandri village, Gunungpati district, Semarang. The wind was blowing calmly as he crossed the bridge above the Jatibarang reservoir.

"I deliberately came here looking for peace after a long day of work. It\'s cool, especially after rain," said the Ngemplak Simongan resident, West Semarang, who works in the pharmaceutical industry.

Another visitor, Hani Mauludin, 23, said he looked for an alternative tourist destination because the city was getting crowded. The number of visitors at the Old City continued to increase after being renovated.

"Sometimes, we need to relax with a calm atmosphere, like here, in Semarang Atas," he said.

In general, the topography of Semarang is divided into three main areas: the beach, lowlands and hills. City centers, including Kota Lama or Old City and Lawang Sewu, are lowlands that are often called Semarang Bawah. The southern region, which is about 10 kilometers from the city center, is in the form of hills and is often called Semarang Atas.

Sometimes, we need to relax with a calm atmosphere, like here, in Semarang Atas.

Kreo cave is one of Semarang\'s top tourist magnets. The admission ticket is Rp 4,500 (32 US cents) per person on weekdays, and Rp 5,500 per person on weekends. One of the unique features of Kreo cave is the presence of hundreds of long-tailed monkeys that often greet visitors from the parking area.

The monkeys will not attack as long as they don’t feel threatened. In Kreo cave, visitors can take a boat around the Jatibarang reservoir. In the last two years, Kreo cave and the Jatibarang reservoir have become popular destinations, transformed by young people as a selfie spot (photography tourism) .

Doni, 26, a resident of Kandri village, said he had created beautiful selfie spots in the form of a deck at the backyard of a resident\'s house facing the reservoir.

The young people built selfie spots with different themes, using decorations such as balloons, lollipops, cherry blossoms, clouds and plants to make them resemble greenhouses.

"On weekends, earnings can reach Rp 2 million per day and about Rp 500,000 on weekdays," Doni said.

As his selfie business is growing, Setiawan, 19, a citizen of Kandri, chose to quit his job as a factory employee and provide a selfie spot for tourists, which is more profitable.

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

A number of long-tailed monkeys gather in the parking lot of the Goa Kreo tourist area, Kandri, Gunungpati District, Semarang City, Central Java, Tuesday (10/12/2019).

Village tourism

Kandari has become an attractive tourist destination since the introduction of village tourism in the area in 2012. The village, which is about 2 km from Kreo cave, is managed by members of the Pandanaran Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis).

A number of tour packages are available, which include visiting a farming area, seeing cultural activities, visiting micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSME) and touring the village.

“Basically, tourists are invited to take part in activities in Kandri," said Masduki, the secretary of the tourism awareness group.

Entering Kandri village, visitors feel the cool, beautiful and green atmosphere. Away from the highway, we can hear the sound of crickets once in a while in the village. Agro tourism activities are centered at Omah Pinter Petani.

The number of tourists visiting the village of Kandri, said Masduki, continued to increase. In 2016, the number reached 6,787 people, including 72 foreign tourists. In 2018, the number increased to 12,289 people, including 126 foreign tourists. Revenue also rose from Rp 857 million to Rp 1.5 billion last year.

Tour packages are priced at between Rp 80,000 and Rp 100,000 per person. Visitors can also stay at residents\' homes and participate in farming activities. There are 150 rooms in the house, with a rental rate of Rp 150,000 per night. For foreign tourists, the rate is between $250 and $300 for a two-day and one-night stay, including several options of tour packages.

We are working with 14 farmers with a profit-sharing system.

According to Masduki, residents promote the village’s tourism using social media. Until March 2020, tour packages in Kandri village have been fully booked. Around 2.3 km south of Kandri, there is the Cepoko Fruit Garden owned by the Semarang city government and is used as an agrotourist destination. In the 2.7-hectare garden, there are three main plants, namely longan, durian and guava, which can be picked by visitors.

"We are working with 14 farmers with a profit-sharing system," said an employee of the city administration’s agriculture and plantations office, Ahmad Badroni.

Cepoko Garden is one of 11 fruit farms owned the Semarang city government. Besides Cepoko, since 2019, the city government has also opened the Purwosari fruit farm in Mijen, South Semarang, with an area of 8 ha, as a tourism site to the public.

Since early December, the city’s Trans-Semarang bus rapid transit (BR) has served routes to Kreo cave, Kandri village and Cepoko Agro. These destinations are part of the Cangkiran-Gunungpati-Manyaran-Semarang City Hall-Simpang Lima Terminal routes.

Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi believes that improvements in infrastructure and the quality of the tourist destinations are key to attracting more tourists to the city. According to the Semarang city government, the number of tourists significantly increased to 5 million people in 2018 from only about 2 million people in 2011.

One of the leading tourist agendas in the city is the Semarang 10K running competition, which is regularly held by Semarang city government in cooperation with Kompas daily. The competition will be held for the second time on Sunday (12/15) and will be joined by 2,000 participants, mostly from outside Semarang.

The event has helped turn the wheels of the economy, such as tourism, hotels and culinary destinations. In addition to trade and services, the tourist activities that involve citizens is part of Semarang\'s efforts in realizing the Great Semarang slogan.

The green and beautiful area of southern Semarang has a great economic potential that can balance the busy life in a metropolitan city.