Tourism has become one of the most highly-sought sectors in Papua. Despite being quite remote, Papua has tourist villages that are women-friendly, which is promising news for female travelers wanting to visit Papua. One of these is Kampung Yoboi, which is located in the Sentani district, Jayapura regency. One of the things that makes Kampung Yoboi attractive is its location above Lake Sentani. In addition, Kampung Yoboi has plenty of tourism potential in the form of nature and culture that are highly suitable for the current tastes of tourists. This is evidenced by Kampung Yoboi’s success in being included in the top 50 of the Indonesian Village Tourism Award (ADWI) 2021 held by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia.
In 2023, Kampung Yoboi was inaugurated as one of the tourist villages designated by the Papua Provincial Government as a women-friendly tourist village. The purpose of this inauguration is to demonstrate action towards reducing violence against women and increasing entrepreneurship opportunities for women, with the hope of improving the economy and reducing early marriage rates in Papua. This is also in line with the tourism offered by Kampung Yoboi to visitors. With its designation as a women-friendly tourist village, the hope is that visitors, especially women, can feel safe and comfortable while visiting.
For those interested in visiting Kampung Yoboi, there are several highly-recommended spots. The village is renowned for its natural richness, particularly the vast expanse of sago trees growing in the surrounding forest. Tourists can trek among sago trees along 420 meters. The sago trees grow in a forest covering an area of 1,600 hectares. In the forest, tourists can find more than 20 types of sago and it is the most common type of sago in Indonesia.
For those interested in culture, Kampung Yoboi’s indigenous community hosts various cultural festivals that tourists can participate in, including the Sago Caterpillar Festival, Ela Festival (hunting wild animals around Kampung Yoboi), and the Lake Sentani Festival. These festivals are held annually and can serve as unique destinations when visiting Kampung Yoboi.
The village also offers diverse creative economy products. The community produces a variety of these products that can be purchased as souvenirs. Products available for sale include sago ice cream, sago flour, and roasted sago. Additionally, there are handicraft items such as Papua batik, bags made from woven sago leaves, and curtains made from sago fruits. The diversity of tourist activities can provide new experiences for the tourism industry in Indonesia. With the support of the government and indigenous communities in creating women-friendly tourism, it is hoped that it can increase the number of tourists, especially women, visiting Kampung Yoboi and Papua. The hope is that many areas can be empowered not only as destinations but also in terms of safety and comfort in tourism, especially for female tourists in Indonesia.
West Papua Now 