Rebok Bukit Porong Gains Profile in Manggarai Barat Tourism Push

Labuan Bajo — Manggarai Barat’s tourism authorities and community groups have promoted the traditional snack Rebok as part of Labuan Bajo’s visitor experience, with Rebok Bukit Porong from Desa Wisata Coal documented as a tourism product linked to the Bukit Porong Tedeng Tourism Awareness Group. Current procurement arrangements with individual hotels are not documented in available public sources.

Rebok is a traditional Manggarai food, typically served as a snack alongside coffee or tea and associated with hospitality and togetherness in local custom, according to a gastronomy guide issued by the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority. The guide notes that Rebok is usually made from rice or corn flour, grated coconut, palm sugar and eggs, and is commonly offered to guests during visits and traditional ceremonies.

Desa Wisata Coal in Kuwus subdistrict has positioned Bukit Porong Tedeng and its associated culinary products as part of its tourism offering. The national tourism ministry’s Jadesta portal lists “Rebok Bukit Porong” as a packaged tourism product developed by the Porong Tedeng Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis Bukit Porong), describing it as a traditional Manggarai food prepared from rice and corn flour and marketed under the Bukit Porong name.

The same portal identifies Alfonsius Sumarno Patut as a contact person for Desa Wisata Coal’s tourism activities.

Community-based production

Desa Wisata Coal has been promoted as a rural tourism destination offering natural scenery, cultural attractions and locally produced food and beverages. Coverage by a national daily described Coal as a “new hope” for tourism beyond Labuan Bajo, highlighting Bukit Porong Tedeng as a sunrise viewpoint and noting that local residents provide traditional Manggarai snacks such as Rebok, Sobol and Serabe, along with locally grown coffee.

According to the Jadesta listing, Rebok Bukit Porong is explicitly framed as a community-developed culinary product tied to the Pokdarwis Bukit Porong in Porong Tedeng hamlet, Desa Coal, Kuwus, Manggarai Barat. Academic work on Bukit Porong notes that the Tourism Awareness Group was formally established in 2021 to organise community participation in tourism development.

Together, these sources support the description of Rebok Bukit Porong as a community-based home industry linked to the tourism group, although they do not provide detailed information on production volumes, pricing or formal business contracts.

Hotel and procurement context

Local and national agencies have encouraged closer links between Labuan Bajo’s tourism industry and local producers. A regional news outlet reported in early 2022 that Manggarai Barat’s tourism, creative economy and culture office urged hotels and restaurants in Labuan Bajo to serve Rebok produced by local micro, small and medium enterprises, as part of a broader push to ensure that tourism benefits local communities.

The report quoted the head of the office as calling on hotels to support local producers by including Rebok in their menus.

Separately, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics’ InfoPublik service reported in April 2022 on efforts by the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority (BPOLBF) and Manggarai Barat’s tourism office to strengthen local supply chains for tourism, including training and business-matching activities to align local products with hotel standards.

The same article cited a local survey indicating that a significant share of hotel demand for staple goods such as rice was still met from outside Manggarai Barat, and quoted officials expressing a goal that 90 percent of creative-economy products used in Labuan Bajo would eventually be locally sourced.

Another regional report from January 2022 described an instruction by the Manggarai Barat regent for hotels and restaurants in Labuan Bajo to use locally produced creative-economy goods, including food and souvenirs, to support local businesses. A planning document from the regency’s development agency also refers to initiatives to develop locally produced souvenirs for sale in tourism areas.

None of these sources, however, list specific hotels that currently procure Rebok Bukit Porong or quantify their purchases. The public material reviewed does not confirm ongoing supply relationships with Jayakarta, La Prima or Ayana hotels, nor does it provide data on monthly output, prices or contractual terms for Rebok producers.

What can be confirmed

On the basis of available documentation, the following points can be supported:

• Product: Rebok is a traditional Manggarai snack made from rice or corn flour, coconut, palm sugar and eggs, associated with hospitality and shared consumption.
• Tourism branding: Rebok Bukit Porong is listed as a specific tourism product of Desa Wisata Coal, developed and promoted by Pokdarwis Bukit Porong in Porong Tedeng.
• Destination context: Desa Wisata Coal and Bukit Porong Tedeng are promoted as rural tourism attractions where visitors are offered local snacks including Rebok.
• Policy direction: Manggarai Barat’s tourism authorities and the Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority have publicly encouraged hotels and restaurants in Labuan Bajo to use local creative-economy products, including Rebok, and to strengthen local supply chains.

What remains undocumented in current public sources is whether specific Labuan Bajo hotels continue to stock or serve Rebok Bukit Porong, the scale of any hotel purchases, and the detailed commercial terms under which community producers in Desa Wisata Coal supply the tourism sector.

Sources

• Media Indonesia
• Jadesta - Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif
• BPOLBF - Gastronomi Manggarai Labuan Bajo (PDF)
• JAVOK: Jurnal Akademisi Vokasi
• Victory News Manggarai Barat
• InfoPublik - Kemenparekraf Perkuat Rantai Pasok DPSP Labuan Bajo
• Bappeda Kabupaten Manggarai Barat - Indeks Pariwisata Inklusif 2024 (PDF)