BRI Cares Provides Assistance in the Form of Homestays to a Village in NTB

Kapanlagi.com - BRI continues to provide support to develop Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and empower the local economy. One of the forms of support is through BRI Cares Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. Through this program, BRI aims to empower local people in the village of Kuta, Pujut District, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) by providing assistance in the form of homestays.

The presence of these homestays has proven to have a positive impact on the village's economy and has encouraged the improvement of the residents' capabilities in homestay management and business.

Alus Marendeng, Head of the Village Service Section in Kuta, stated that there are 4 homestay units managed by the Pujut Village, complete with facilities and infrastructure to support the homestays, as well as a deep well to meet the water needs in the area.

"Alhamdulillah, after the handover of the 4 homestay units by BRI, these homestays have greatly helped us in generating income for the village. We have also been able to empower the residents by providing jobs and teaching them how to manage, market, and keep records," said Alus.

Contributing to the Local Economy

Alus revealed that Kuta Village always receives tourists who stay overnight and contribute to the local economy. Kuta Village has even become an inspiration for other villages in the surrounding area to develop their potential as tourist villages, by collaborating with third parties to develop village homestays.

"Other villages want to imitate how Kuta Village now has homestays. They want to follow, build, or establish village businesses," he said.

Currently, the occupancy rate of BRI Kuta homestays has been almost consistently at 100% since it opened at the end of June. "Alhamdulillah, it has never been empty since we opened until now. Always full." Even some have already booked for next year. Like when Lombok became the host of the MotoGP Mandalika 2023 racing event, there were already around 30 people who came directly to book, but we couldn't accept them because it was already full," said Alus.

The company explained that the average guests staying in the village homestay are tourists who come to explore tourism in the Lombok area and surrounding areas with a long stay period.

"Many foreign tourists usually rent weekly or long stay. Some for about 2-3 weeks. Hopefully in the future we can develop more because besides the high demand, we still have enough land availability," he added.

The Presence of Homestay as BRI's Support

BRI Corporate Secretary, Agustya Hendy Bernadi, revealed that the presence of BRI homestay is BRI's support as a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) to encourage the development of the tourism sector in the Lombok region, considering Mandalika as one of the super-priority tourism destinations in the country.

"Hopefully the built homestay can be maintained and continuously managed well so that it can help boost the economy of Kuta Village," he said.

As is known, the government is developing the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Central Lombok as a new destination for foreign and domestic tourists. The coastal natural potential of the Mandalika SEZ, including Kuta Beach, Serenting Beach, Tanjung Aan, Kelieuw Beach, and Gerupuk Beach, has the charm of beautiful and enchanting coastal landscapes.

(kpl/glo)