East Nusa Tenggara natural wonders to boost economic development

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province is blessed with at least eight natural wonders, which are expected to boost local economic development and tourism.

Among the natural wonders of the province are: Semana Santa in Larantuka; Nihiwatu Beach in Sumba Island; Alor Dive in Alor Island; Nemberalla Beach in Rote Ndao; Komodo Island; Pink Beach in Padar Island; Taman 17 in Riung Island; and the three-coloured lakes of Mount Kelimutu.

"East Nusa Tenggara has immense potential in cultural tourism, because the province is as rich in culture as any other region in Indonesia," Governor Frans Lebu Raya said.

The governor urged all and sundry in the province to support the development of tourism and attract as many tourists as possible.

Meanwhile, the chief of the local Tourism and Creative Economic Office, Abraham Klakik, said in Kupang on Friday that the local government had set itself a target to attract one million tourists in 2013.

"Our target for the number of tourist arrivals to NTT in 2012 is 750,000, and in 2013 it can increase to 1 million," Abraham stated, referring to the international marine event of Sail Komodo 2013.

However, he pointed out that Sail Komodo 2013 was still awaiting the official go-ahead from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Until now, the President has not yet issued an official decision on the event proposed by the provincial government of East Nusa Tenggara," Abraham said, adding that he had been informed that the decree was still being processed by the Coordinating Ministry for People`s Welfare.

"Last April, there was a letter from the ministry. It was signed by Coordinating Minister`s secretary Indroyono Soesilo, dated April 18, 2012," he noted.

"Once the decree is published, Sail Komodo 2013 will be launched officially in Jakarta and later in Kupang in order to attract tourists," Abraham said.

Even before Komodo National Park was declared as one of the "New7Wonders of Nature", he added, the number of tourists to the province had increased significantly.

Abraham said some tourists even postponed their visit to Labuan Bajo, at the western tip of Flores Island, because all the hotels in the town were fully booked.

"During the high season, there are not enough hotels in Labuan Bajo to accommodate the tourists, but we will try to overcome it in order to realise our dream of 1 million tourist visits in 2013," he explained.

He pointed out that the number of tourists visiting East Nusa Tenggara had risen significantly over the past six months.

"Observing the trend of increasing tourist visits to East Nusa Tenggara, from 148,673 visitors in 2010 to 412,072 tourists in 2011, we are optimistic that the number will continue to rise in 2012, especially after the announcement of Komodo as one of the New7Wonders of Nature," Abraham said.

Earlier in May 2012, the New7Wonders Foundation officially declared Komodo National Park as one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

"The success of the Komodo National Park is an inspiring example of how a community can join hands to protect endangered species," said Bernard Weber, the president of the New7Wonders Foundation.

"The huge number of votes that came in from Indonesia reflected how Indonesian people were proud of their natural heritage," he added.

Komodo ambassador M. Jusuf Kalla, who is also the chief of the Komodo Kita Foundation advisory board, said Komodo Park had received more than 200 million votes.

"The process to determine Komodo National Park as one of the New7Wonders of Nature took more than five months," he noted.

Therefore, besides promoting Komodo Island through Sail Komodo 2013, the local government would continue its efforts to develop the natural, cultural, and historical tourism attractions in the province, Abraham said.

The NTT government is striving to make the tourism industry an economic pillar for the province and its 4.6 million people.

"Tourism must be the leading sector and the engine of economic development in NTT," Abraham said, when speaking in the context of the government`s Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Economic Development (MP3EI) programme.

According to the MP3EI programme, NTT is in the Bali-Nusa Tenggara corridor, as the gateway for tourism in the region.

Abraham noted the main economic activities in the corridor were related to three sectors: tourism, animal husbandry, and fisheries.

He said the tourism, fisheries, and animal husbandry sectors together made a significant contribution to the regional gross domestic product (GDP), of 47 percent for Bali, 36 percent for West Nusa Tenggara, and 56 percent for NTT.

With an average increase of 11 percent per year in their contribution to the regional GDP for the past five years, these three economic activities have the potential to become the economic engine in the Bali-Nusa Tenggara economic corridor.

"Through this corridor, the economy of NTT is expected to grow rapidly and significantly," Abraham stated, adding that tourism should become the leading sector of economic development in the province.

16.000 more foreign tourists visit Komodo Park

The number of foreign tourists who have visited Komodo National Park at Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) reached 16.768 people until June.

"The data showed foreign visitors to the national park have increased from 42.000 tourists in May," said Head of Promotion Department at NTT Tourism Office, Bonaventura Rumat, here on Tuesday.

He said the growing number of foreign tourists recently was because of high promotion from the local government, as well as the confirmation that Komodo National Park was one of the new seven wonders of nature.

Therefore, the increasing number of foreign tourists in Komodo Park has affected the trade value in the region, as it enjoyed more than Rp838 billion (88.6 million US dollar).

The value was estimated as if one foreign tourist spent at least about Rp1 million (105.7 US dollar) per day for their needs, including accommodation, transportation and meal costs.

"If one tourist spends RP1 million per day, and he stays for five days for instance, so we can get the amount of money (Rp838 million)," he explained.

Due to the condition, the local people could possibly improve their economic standard of living and purchasing power in order to get higher economy level of life.

Nonetheless, the growing number of visitors from foreign countries was not supported by the well-conditioned of infrastructure in Labuan Bajo, as transportation services, either land or air, still needed to be improved as well.

He said there were three three-star hotels and one four-star hotel in the area.

"The airport that we have can not yet be landed by large aircrafts," he said.

Apart from the lack of facility and infrastructure units, he said, the local government would develop the tourism object, making the visitors comfortable in spending holiday in Komodo Park.

Resource :

http://www.tourismindonesia.com/search/label/Komodo

THE NOUN PHRASE

A noun phrase is a phrase which includes:

1. a noun (also called head)

2. and optionally modifiers.

Examples:

· Love is a beautiful feeling. (Love is a noun phrase without modifiers. However, a beautiful feeling is a noun phrase that includes a noun, feeling, and the determiner a and the adjective beautiful)

· My house is over there. (My house is a noun phrase which consists of the noun house and a modifier - the possessive adjective my)

Possible noun modifiers

A noun phrase may optionally contain noun modifiers. If these modifiers are placed before the noun they are called pre-modifiers. However, if they are placed after the noun, they are called post-modifiers. Possible noun modifiers include the following:

1. Determiners:

· articles (the, a),

· demonstratives (this, that)

· numerals (two, five, etc.)

· possessives (my, their, etc.)

· quantifiers (some, many, etc.).

In English, determiners are usually placed before the noun;

2. Adjectives (the delicious food)

3. Complements, in the form of a prepositional phrase (such as: the student of physics), or a That-clause (the idea that the world is a small village )

Functions of a noun phrase

Noun phrases can function as subjects, objects:

1. That sophisticated woman is beautiful. (That sophisticated woman is a noun phrase that functions as a subject.)

2. I like the book that you bought. (the book that you bought is a noun phrase that functions as an object.)

COUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

dog, cat, animal, man, person
bottle, box, litre
coin, note, dollar
cup, plate, fork
table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

My dog is playing.
My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

I like oranges.
Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

I've got some dollars.
Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

I've got a few dollars.
I haven't got many pens.

"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:

There is one person here.
There are three people here.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

music, art, love, happiness
advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

This news is very important.
Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

a piece of news
a bottle of water
a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money.
Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money.
I haven't got much rice.

Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".

Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable	Uncountable
dollar	money
song	music
suitcase	luggage
table	furniture
battery	electricity
bottle	wine
report	information
tip	advice
journey	travel
job	work
view	scenery

When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's countable or uncountable.

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.

Countable		Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!	hair	I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.	light	Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. There are so many different noises in the city.	noise	It's difficult to work when there is so much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper) Hand me those student papers.	paper	I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.	room	Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party. How many times have I told you no?	time	Have you got time for a cup of coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.	work	I have no money. I need work!

Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example):

Two teas and one coffee please.

A, AN, THE

When do we say "the dog" and when do we say "a dog"? (On this page we talk only about singular, countable nouns.)

The and a/an are called "articles". We divide them into "definite" and "indefinite" like this:

Articles
Definite	Indefinite
the	a, an

We use "definite" to mean sure, certain. "Definite" is particular.

We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is general.

When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the. When we are talking about one thing in general, we use a or an.

Think of the sky at night. In the sky we see 1 moon and millions of stars. So normally we would say:

I saw the moon last night.
I saw a star last night.

Look at these examples:

the	a, an
The capital of France is Paris. I have found the book that I lost. Have you cleaned the car? There are six eggs in the fridge. Please switch off the TV when you finish.	I was born in a town. John had an omelette for lunch. James Bond ordered a drink. We want to buy an umbrella. Have you got a pen?

Of course, often we can use the or a/an for the same word. It depends on the situation, not the word. Look at these examples:

We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular umbrella.)
Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are looking for our umbrella, a particular umbrella.)

This little story should help you understand the difference between the and a, an:

A man and a woman were walking in Oxford Street. The woman saw a dress that she liked in a shop. She asked the man if he could buy the dress for her. He said: "Do you think the shop will accept a cheque? I don't have a credit card."

POSSESIVE ADJECTIVES

Warning! These are adjectives. Don't confuse them with pronouns!

We use possessive adjectives to show who owns or "possesses" something. The possessive adjectives are:

my, your, his, her, its, our, their
whose (interrogative)

number	person	gender	possessive adjective	example sentence
singular	1st	male/female	my	This is my book.
	2nd	male/female	your	I like your hair.
	3rd	male	his	His name is "John".
		female	her	Her name is "Mary".
		neuter	its	The dog is licking its paw.
plural	1st	male/female	our	We have sold our house.
	2nd	male/female	your	Your children are lovely.
	3rd	male/female/neuter	their	The students thanked their teacher.

singular/plural	1st/2nd/3rd	male/female (not neuter)	whose	Whose phone did you use?

Compare:

your = possessive adjective
you're = you are

its = possessive adjective
it's = it is OR it has

their = possessive adjective
they're = they are
there = adverb (I'm not going there / look over there / there is a car outside)

whose = possessive adjective
who's = who is OR who has

Be careful! There is no apostrophe (') in the possessive adjective "its". We use an apostrophe to write the short form of "it is" or "it has". For example:
it's raining = it is raining
it's finished = it has finished

I'm taking my dog to the vet. It's broken its leg.

EACH, EVERY

Each and every have similar but not always identical meanings.

Each = every one separately
Every = each, all

Sometimes, each and every have the same meaning:

Prices go up each year.
Prices go up every year.

But often they are not exactly the same.

Each expresses the idea of 'one by one'. It emphasizes individuality.

Every is half-way between each and all. It sees things or people as singular, but in a group or in general.

Consider the following:

Every artist is sensitive.
Each artist sees things differently.
Every soldier saluted as the President arrived.
The President gave each soldier a medal.

Each can be used in front of the verb:

The soldiers each received a medal.

Each can be followed by 'of':

The President spoke to each of the soldiers.
He gave a medal to each of them.

Every cannot be used for 2 things. For 2 things, each can be used:

He was carrying a suitcase in each hand.

Every is used to say how often something happens:

There is a plane to Bangkok every day.
The bus leaves every hour.

Verbs with each and every are always conjugated in the singular.

SOME, ANY

Some = a little, a few or a small number or amount

Any = one, some or all

Usually, we use some in positive (+) sentences and any in negative (-) and question (?) sentences.

	some	any	example situation
+	I have some money.		I have $10.
-		I don't have any money.	I don't have $1 and I don't have $10 and I don't have $1,000,000. I have $0.
?		Do you have any money?	Do you have $1 or $10 or $1,000,000?

In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in the same way as some/any.

Look at these examples:

He needs some stamps.
I must go. I have some homework to do.
I'm thirsty. I want something to drink.
I can see somebody coming.

He doesn't need any stamps.
I can stay. I don't have any homework to do.
I'm not thirsty. I don't want anything to drink.
I can't see anybody coming.

Does he need any stamps?
Do you have any homework to do?
Do you want anything to drink?
Can you see anybody coming?

We use any in a positive sentence when the real sense is negative.

I refused to give them any money. (I did not give them any money)
She finished the test without any difficulty. (she did not have any difficulty)

Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive YES answer. (We could say that it is not a real question, because we think we know the answer already.)