Seychelles Explores Cooperation on Developing Hot Spring Tourism in Berau
- 21 Jul 2026 16:54 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Seychelles’ Presidential Envoy to ASEAN, Nico Barito, highlighted the importance of strengthening cultural narratives and local identity to develop the Pemapak Hot Spring into a sustainable tourism destination.
- Berau Regency emphasized that investment and collaboration are key to maximizing the destination’s economic benefits for local communities.
RRI.CO.ID, Berau - Strengthening cultural narratives and local identity is seen as a key factor in advancing the Pemapak Hot Spring Tourist Site in Biatan Subdistrict, Berau Regency, East Kalimantan. Seychelles’ Presidential Envoy to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Nico Barito, said this experience-based approach could attract visitors consistently throughout the year.
Nico said Pemapak Hot Spring has strong potential to be developed as a sustainable tourism destination, so that the economic benefits can be felt continuously by local communities.
“In tourism development, it is not enough to rely only on natural beauty and the assets that already exist. It must also be able to highlight the stories and local identity that distinguish one destination from another,” said Nico during his visit to Berau Regency on Monday, 20 July 2026.
He said every destination must have its own story. When tourism has a strong narrative, he added, visitors become curious to come, return at another time, and bring their relatives along.
For that reason, local wisdom held by communities around the area should become part of the tourism experience, which is why he continues to encourage it so that tourism development can move faster.
“The development of the Pemapak Hot Spring destination needs to be strengthened with an experience-based tourism concept that highlights local culture. Additionally, introducing supporting activities will help attract visitors throughout the year rather than just seasonally,” he added, as quoted by Antara.
Visitor numbers to the hot spring site have been relatively high in recent periods. During the 2025 Christmas and New Year holiday season, the area recorded around 4,500 visitors, then rose to 5,600 people when it reopened after improvements on 21–25 March 2026.
“Berau Regency has many unique and attractive natural tourism destinations. One of them is this natural hot spring site, which still has ample room for the development of facilities, accommodation, and attractions to increase visitor numbers,” said Berau Deputy Regent, Gamalis, in Tanjung Redeb on Tuesday, 21 July 2026.
He said that investment support is one of the keys to further developing growing destinations, so they can provide greater added value for the regional economy and local welfare.
Gemalis hopes more collaboration and investment will come in so tourism development can proceed more optimally. One of the interested parties is an investor from the Republic of Seychelles, an African nation, which has expressed interest in developing nature-based tourism. ***
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