Komodo National Park Revenue Tops Rp53 Billion, But District Gets Rp2.6 Billion

Labuan Bajo — Manggarai Barat said it received no local government revenue from visitors inside Komodo National Park after 2023, even as the park generated more than Rp53 billion in non-tax state revenue in 2024, according to a district tourism official cited in a document hosted by the East Nusa Tenggara Audit Board representative office and local reporting that quoted the same figures.

The district’s tourism chief, Stefanus Jemsifori, said the park’s ticket and activity income is collected by the Komodo National Park authority and booked as non-tax state revenue, while the district’s own tourism income in 2024 was only Rp2.6 billion from attractions outside the park.

The gap underscores how little of Labuan Bajo’s visitor spending flows directly into the Manggarai Barat budget, even though the district is the gateway to Komodo and one of Indonesia’s best-known tourism destinations.

Where the money goes

The figures cited in the BPK-hosted interview say Komodo National Park recorded 334,206 domestic and foreign visits in 2024, producing more than Rp53 billion in non-tax state revenue, or PNBP. Local reporting on the same subject said the district’s tourism revenue was Rp2.6 billion in 2024, derived from retribution at destinations outside the park.

According to the district official quoted in the BPK-hosted document, Manggarai Barat stopped receiving proceeds from park ticket collection from 2023 onward, after an arrangement that had previously allowed the district to book some of that income locally. A separate report from October 2024 said the district had already stopped collecting park retribution from 1 January 2023 following a BPK recommendation tied to double charging concerns.

The same October 2024 report said Manggarai Barat’s tourism PAD for January-September 2024 had reached Rp2.366 billion from sites and activities outside Komodo National Park. That aligns with the later figure of Rp2.6 billion for the full year, showing modest growth in local receipts despite the park’s much larger turnover.

District response

Jemsifori said the district still funds services and infrastructure that support communities around the park, including education, training, roads, toilets, homestay support and retaining walls, while arguing that the visitor payments do not enter the district budget.

He also said the district is trying to spread tourism spending beyond the park by promoting snorkeling and diving spots such as Pulau Kelor, Menjerite, Sebayur, Kanawa, Sabolo and Bidadari, along with village tourism programs.

The district’s Fasmadewi programme, short for Facilitation for Tourism Villages, is designed to strengthen community tourism groups through training in digital marketing, guiding and homestay management, as well as improvements to attractions, access, amenities and supporting services.

The BPK-hosted document also said development spending in Mberenang village had reached Rp6.7 billion, and named Ngalor Kalo, Cunca Lolos and Warloka Pesisir as other villages under development.

In the interview, Jemsifori said the district had set a tourism revenue target of Rp7 billion and had collected Rp900 million at the time of the interview, after missing a previous target of Rp4 billion. He linked the drop in domestic visits to Presidential Instruction No. 1 of 2025 on budget efficiency, saying government and ministry events had previously brought visitors to the area.

Labuan Bajo and Komodo National Park remain closely tied, but the figures cited in the sources show that most of the park’s earnings are captured as central government revenue rather than as local PAD.

Sources

• Floresa: Kadis Pariwisata Manggarai Barat: Hanya Nama Besar Destinasi Super Prioritas, Tak Dapat Apa-Apa dari Taman Nasional Komodo
• Pos Kupang: PAD Manggarai Barat sektor pariwisata per Januari-September 2024 tembus Rp2,3 miliar
• BPK Perwakilan Provinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur, document carrying a Floresa interview