BPOLBF confirmed as implementing authority for Labuan Bajo Flores tourism

Labuan Bajo — Indonesia’s Labuan Bajo Flores tourism authority is formally known as the Badan Pelaksana Otorita Labuan Bajo Flores (BPOLBF), an implementing body under the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy with its organisation and functions set out in Ministerial Regulation No. 7 of 2018, which follows Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2018 on the Labuan Bajo Flores tourism area management authority.

Official documents describe BPOLBF as the implementing arm of the Labuan Bajo Flores tourism authority, working under a steering board mandated by the presidential regulation. The ministerial regulation places BPOLBF as a work unit under the ministry, led by a president director (Direktur Utama) and supported by directors for finance and public communication, tourism industry and institutional development, destination development, tourism marketing and an internal audit unit.

Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2018 establishes a special tourism authority for the Labuan Bajo Flores area, with a steering board and BPOLBF as its executing body, tasked with accelerating integrated tourism development in a designated authority zone in the Bowosie forest area and coordinating activities across 11 related districts. According to the authority’s own description, BPOLBF is designed as a specialised institution to speed up tourism development in the national strategic tourism area of Labuan Bajo Flores.

Executive role and responsibilities

Under Ministerial Regulation No. 7 of 2018, BPOLBF is responsible for coordinating, synchronising and facilitating planning, development, construction and control across the wider Labuan Bajo Flores tourism area, while directly planning, developing, constructing, managing and controlling activities within the 400-hectare authority zone. Academic and government analyses note that BPOLBF operates as a work unit under the ministry, carrying out tasks assigned for a 25-year period under the presidential regulation, with the possibility of extension.

Information from BPOLBF and a government public information portal describe the body’s role as helping to facilitate and accelerate tourism development in Labuan Bajo, while stressing that sustainable and self-sufficient tourism requires broader collaboration with local governments, communities and other stakeholders. The authority is expected to integrate infrastructure development, destination management and marketing activities in coordination with regional administrations.

Name usage and structure

Government communications in 2021 refer to the organisation as Badan Pelaksana Otorita Labuan Bajo Flores (BPOLBF) and describe a change from an earlier usage of Badan Otorita Pariwisata Labuan Bajo Flores (BOPLBF) in order to emphasise its status as an executive board rather than the steering board itself.

In an April 2021 statement carried by the government’s public information service, president director Shana Fatina explained that the use of “Pelaksana” in the name underlines the body’s role in executing mandates set by the ministry as steering board, aligning its nomenclature with other destination authorities such as Danau Toba and Borobudur.

BPOLBF’s official service standards and strategic plans cite Ministerial Regulation No. 7 of 2018 and Presidential Regulation No. 32 of 2018 as the legal basis for its organisation and tasks, positioning the authority as both an otoritatif (authoritative) manager of the 400-hectare authority zone and a coordinating agency for tourism development across the broader Labuan Bajo Flores area.

Subsequent documents record that BPOLBF was designated as a public service agency (badan layanan umum) in November 2022 under a finance ministry decree, further formalising its operational status within the ministry’s structure.

For tourism operators, investors and international partners, BPOLBF is therefore the recognised implementing authority for the Labuan Bajo Flores tourism area, charged with planning, managing and promoting development in the core authority zone while coordinating tourism initiatives across the wider region in line with national policy.

Sources

• Badan Pelaksana Otorita Labuan Bajo Flores official site
• Permenpar No. 7/2018 – PDF copy (Berita Negara)
• National regulations portal – Peraturan Menteri Tahun 2018
• Kolegal.id – overview of Permenpar No. 7 Tahun 2018
• InfoPublik – Dirut BPOLBF Tegaskan BPOLBF Sebagai Executive Board
• BPOLBF performance report 2024 (Laporan Kinerja BPOLBF 2024)
• Audit Board of Indonesia (NTT) – Upaya Pemkab dalam membangun kepariwisataan daerah di Labuan Bajo
• Proceeding APHTNHAN – Kedudukan dan Pembatasan Materi Muatan Peraturan