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YOUNG and adult dancers from Lombok’s indigenous Sasak community donned colourful traditional costumes to welcome more the 130 visitors from a luxury cruise ship.
Cruise ships from around the world are calling at Lombok’s Lembar harbour so their passengers can experience some of West Nusa Tenggara’s (NTB’s) exotic scenery and cultural wealth.
Port authority PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Pelindo) III said that French-flagged luxury cruiser L’Austral, which anchored at Lembar on 6 April, was one of 22 cruise liners scheduled to visit the West Lombok port in 2012.
The 142-metre vessel has a capacity for 264 passengers. After it anchored at Lembar at 7am, 132 visitors disembarked to participate in two organised tours of the Lombok mainland.
Some chose an introduction to Lombok’s rich history by visiting significant sites such as the Mandalika traditional market, the temples and gardens at Lingsar and Narmada parks, and the art market at Sayang-Sayang.
Others took advantage of Senggigi beach to enjoy sunbathing, snorkelling and surfing before joining their fellow passengers for lunch at the Senggigi Beach Hotel.
The tours and lunch were organised by Express Reservation Service (ERS) Tours and Travel whose manager, Halis, said it was the first time visitors from the French-flagged vessel had disembarked at Lombok.
L’Austral had called at Lembar before, but only between stopovers at Benoa in Bali and Probolinggo in East Java, where passengers were to visit Mount Bromo, he said.
The challenge for Halis was to arrange worthwhile and convenient activities while staying close to the harbour because of the visitors’ tight schedule.
“The passengers were due back on board at 2pm as L’Austral was due to sail at 3pm, so we could not take them far from the harbour,” he said.
“However, through six French-speaking tour guides and two English speakers, we were able to let the visitors know that there are many other tourist destinations and activities on both Lombok and Sumbawa.”
Halis said while the French tourism market was promising for NTB, the number of French-speaking guides in the province was limited and people would need to be recruited from elsewhere for activities needing more than six guides.
The passengers were welcomed to Lombok with traditional performances of the music and dance of the indigenous Sasak people of the island. “We wanted to create an impression of the characteristics of Sasak culture and community,” said Halis.
L’Austral visited Lombok on a 12-night cruise from Darwin in Australia to Singapore.
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