DILI, 12 December, 2019 (TATOLI) – The head Timor-Leste’s newly-formed Marine Tourism Association (ATM-TL) says the country has been “discovered” as a whale and dolphin-watching destination, but operators are “disappointed” at a lack of government investment in the industry.
Speaking towards the end of annual whale migration season, Professor Karen Edyvane said the US $10.4 million allocation to the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry in the proposed 2020 General State Budget is a real let-down for tour operators.
“Timor-Leste is on the verge of a major boom in marine tourism… [but] the government investment in tourism development – a particular growth sector – is disappointing,” she told TATOLI.
The migration of Blue Whales and Sperm Whales, as well as large pods of dolphins, typically pass close to Dili from October to December. The channel was named a “global hotspot” for cetaceans in 2008.
Prof. Edyvane said it has been an “extraordinary” year for spotting the massive mammals, with more than 200 blue whales, and pods of up to 40 sperm whales sighted close to the Dili shoreline. But she said while businesses have been flat-out ferrying tourists on whale-watching expeditions, the industry is accustomed to getting by without significant support.
“We need investment in jetties and piers. We can’t be attracting tourists from around the world to be experiencing globally significant marine biodiversity assets when they’re having to literally wade into the water to get into a boat off Dili.”
“It’s not a great introduction to the country,” she said.
Marine scientist Karen Edyvane is a visiting professor with the University of Timor-Leste, and has advised the government for years on developing its eco-tourism.
Prof. Edyvane said the country badly needs to formalise national rules around maritime safety, whale-watching guidelines to protect marine wildlife, and to require foreign tour operators to be registered before bringing in visitors.
“In Sri Lanka, for instance, over a period of just six years, they went from 620 visitors to over 80,000,” she said.
“So for Timor, the challenge is not attracting people; the risk that we run is that we’ll have too many people in an unregulated environment.”
Timor is one of the few countries where it’s possible to swim with whales — simply because regulations haven’t been drawn up yet. Many other countries allow swimming, but under strict permits; in other countries swimming is banned altogether.
‘Low volume, high-end activity’
Among the operators dotted along Dili’s foreshore is Compass Diving, which began taking tours in 2010. Dive Operations Manager Fizzy Moslim has built a career in eco-tourism, but says the thrill of seeing a Blue Whale up close never dies.
“It’s still exciting! I’ve seen it probably hundreds of times and there’s still this amazement of ‘wow there’s this amazing, 25-metre long animal that is so close to you,” she said.
She said demand has surged this year for “dive” whale watching — where guests are able to get in the water close to the animals — but Compass deliberately offered a limited number of departures (15) during the migration season. Along with the 11 conventional whale-watching tours, Compass only took around 300 passengers.
“This is such a gem of a location and in order to sustain that I think it needs to a be a bit more low-volume, high-end type of activity,” she said.
Still, all of Compass’ planned departures for 2020 are already booked out — more than 10 months in advance.
Diversification away from oil ‘very urgent’
Timor-Leste is one of the least-visited countries in the region. The most recent data, for 2017, shows just 74,000 Class 1 Tourist Visas were issued that year – although it’s likely just a fraction of those people were holidaymakers. The Timor-Leste government has described tourism as a ‘priority pillar of economic development’ and aims to lift visitor numbers to 200,000 a year by 2030.
However, the proposed 2020 budget remains heavily reliant on oil revenue; some 90 per cent of the almost $2 billion proposed budget comes from the National Petroleum Fund. President Francisco Guterres Lú Olo has warned the government that its current approach leaves the country vulnerable.
“It is very urgent to diversify our economy, to get rid of dependency to oil and gas through the development of the private sector, such as agriculture… manufacturing and tourism,” he said in a speech at the Government Palace.
Earlier this year, dive operators and guest formed the Marine Tourism Association (ATM-TL), with Prof. Edyvane as its inaugural chairman. After a meeting this week, ATM-TL President Avelino Fernandes echoed President Guterres’ call.
“Community-based tourism in particular is a powerful tool to address poverty, especially in rural areas… where community-based tourism is being supported, it is already having a major, positive, economic impact on communities and the well-being of local people,” he said.
Fizzy Moslim said there is enough demand to justify Compass offering more departures in 2020, but said commercial realities remain in a fine balancing act with conservation of the huge cetaceans.
“It’s a huge, precious resource Timor has and the last thing we want to do, for continuity’s sake and sustainability, is to overrun [them],” she said.
Journalist: Robert Baird
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story stated that “diving with whales is permitted” in Timor-Leste. Diving is not permitted, only swimming. ATM-TL remains in discussions with the government to pass the country’s first whale-watching regulations.
