Some 17,000 Tourists Visit Wakatobi

Kendari, SE Sulawesi (Antara Bali) - About 17,000 foreign and domestic tourists visited Wakatobi Southeast Sulawesi in 2015, Wakatobi District Head Hugua said here on Sunday.

Hugua said the number of tourist arrivals in Wakatobi has been increasing of late after the development of Matahora airport in Wakatobi.

Wakatobi, he said, has been included as one of the best tourist destinations in the country.

When the construction of the airport began in 2009, the number of tourists was still about 3,000 per annum. Now, he said, the number of tourist arrivals has continued to increase reaching about 17,000 and is expected to reach 30,000 in 2016.

"In an effort to increase tourist visits to Wakatobi we are preparing and developing the runway of Matahora airport so that it would be able to accommodate wide bodied aircraft," the district head said.

The airport's terminal is also being developed to meet the international standard so that passengers would enjoy comfortable waiting rooms, he said.

Currently, airlines that have served the routes to Wakatobi include Wings Air and Avia Star. With a capacity of 72 seats, Wings Air serves the airport every day.

The 12-seat capacity Avia Star meanwhile flies passengers to and from the airport once a week.

Wakatobi is the name of an island and district located in Southeast Sulawesi Province.

The capital of the district is located in Wangi-Wangi, which is established by virtue of Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 29 of 2003 dated 18 December 2003.

It has an area of 823 square kilometers and in the year 2011 had a population of 94.846 inhabitants, according to Wikipedia.

 Wakatobi is also the name of a national park established in 1996, with a total area of 1.39 million hectares that consists of marine biodiversity hotspot known as Wallacea and coral reefs, whose condition and scale occupy one of the highest priorities of marine conservation in Indonesia.

 Wakatobi islands is a part of the Coral Triangle, which contains one of the richest marine biodiversity on earth. (WDY)