Denpasar (Antara Bali) - The Raja Empat district tourism office is making preparations for a marine festival 2010 in May this year.
The marine festival would be organized from May 1 to 10, 2010 and centered in the Raja Ampat's district capital of Waisasi, on Waigeo Island, Yusdhi Lamatenggo, head of the Raja Ampat district tourism office, said here on Friday.
The main attraction of the marine festival will be diving in Raja Ampat waters which are considered to be among the world's ten most beautiful diving sites.
"According to the plan, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik will officially open the festival. Meanwhile, many foreign and domestic tourists have also expressed their interest in joining the festival," he said.
More tourists are now interested in visiting the Raja Ampat marine resort in West Papua Province, particularly for diving.
Tourists must book accommodations in Raja Ampat resort months before their arrival as most of the rooms there were fully booked, Yusdi Lamatenggo said.
Lamatenggo is in Denpasar to accompany Raja Ampat District Head Marcus Wanma who is scheduled to officially open a Raja Ampat tourism office in Sanur, Badung District, Bali Province.
Raja Ampat also has established a promotion office in Jakarta, and has five marine tourism operators in Papua. A tourist usually spends about 11 days in Raja Ampat to enjoy diving from one location to another.
According to data from the Raja Ampat tourism office, some 7,000 tourists, mostly foreigners from the United States, Europe and Australia, and only 200 domestic tourists, visited Raja Empat in 2009.
The Raja Ampat (Four Kings) archipelago encompasses more than 9.8 million acres of land and sea off the northwestern tip of West Papua Province.
Located in the Coral Triangle, the heart of the world's coral reef biodiversity, the seas around Raja Ampat possibly hold the richest variety of species in the world.
The area's massive coral colonies show that its reefs are resistant to threats like coral bleaching and disease that now jeopardize the survival of coral reefs around the world.
Raja Ampat waters have around 540 species of hard coral reefs, including 13 of them are endemic, constituting 75 percent of the world's endemic coral reefs.
The marine resort also have more than 1,070 reef fish species and 60 shrimp species, 699 species of soft animals consisting of 530 species of snails and 159 species of clams.(*/T007)
