insidesumatera.com | tourism & lifestyle magazine

Last April, there were 2 long weekends. My department heads decided to go on an outing to Danau Toba (Lake Toba). As event organizer, 2 department heads took the lead to organize this much needed weekend trip as we all needed some R&R. Unfortunately, the arrangement merely remained good on paper. So following countless delays and defenses it already was May and still no Lake Toba. To be frank, the entire occasion was by now forgotten. Up until I got approached by the Tourism Board to place an announcement for the upcoming Lake Toba Festival on the 13th till 16th June--wasn’t this a great opportunity to visit the Lake (yet again). So, to make it all more interesting, I decided to have a bet with “The Dynamic Duo” of event organizers--take us there during the festival and you win. Can you imagine how fast things got rolling and how the other department heads got excited. But I guess that you already get the picture. Yes, once more it got cancelled, and when it was time to pay up, my Dynamic Duo innocently said to me: “But...the festival has been postponed till next month”. And they were right. So, what was the reason than that banners all over the city and announcement on the official tourism website of Indonesia could be wrong. How come an international event that is so important for the tourism can be totally neglected and postponed? Why? Yes, there are many reasons and many rumors. One of them is that the event is actually not postponed at all and all the activities are still on going. However the peak of the event shall be opened by the President. A question could be, how come if the festival is already on going for what does it still need to be opened by the President? Another question that we should ask ourselves is, why are they repaving the roads like madmen? Since I received word from several "reliable" resources that the festival already was on going, I decided no longer to wait for the “Dynamic Duo of postponing” (their new nickname), and to see it for myself. Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, there is no festival and nothing is happening or on going at this moment. Is it not a pity of all the time and effort for those who organized this in the first place? Was North Sumatera the victim of The 30th Bali Arts Festival that fell on the same date? For sure, Bali is more popular tourist destination and money cow than any other destination in Indonesia, but with or without the activities, people would still go to Bali, so why not offer another location some exposure and publication? So I would recommend for any province in the future, it would be much better check with the tourism department in Bali first before planning any event. One thing that I do think I need to stress out here is that during my overnight in Tuk Tuk, and the bicycle ride over the island. I saw more foreigners in one day then I saw in 3 months in my hotel. And trust me when I say we get a lot of foreigners in my hotel. There is a market, a very good market. The only problem is, lack in promotions and dubious infrastructure. For those who wonder why lack in promotion, because all the information regarding Lake Toba and Samosir I got from the internet and not from a flier or brochure–because none are made available. From a tourism facilities point of view, Samosir has the potential in becoming the Bali of Sumatera. By example creating a marina offering to rent small sail boats, catamarans, jet skis or even banana boats, the wind was perfect that day, get a proper water taxi’s to offer a regular shuttle service. It is very ironic if you think about it: the biggest lake in the world, but water recreation is missing. Attract business to the island like mini markets or super markets, fast food chains, spa’s and much more. I know however it is the chicken and egg story here and only because of that there never be any true progress. The island is now doing on weekends an occupancy of 30% tops of which 90% from abroad. So, who wants to invest? My Cinderella ending, on advise of sales team, I stayed in Toledo Inn, a family run hotel which is now being managed by the 2nd generation and the 1st is still very active. She is a lady who reminds me of my grandmother, and she is the true example of how a hotelier should be, the warmth and hospitality shown simply perfect. They may not be a high class star rated hotel but the service and the personal touch of the owners makes it in my book one of the warmest and coziest hotel I ever had the pleasure in staying in. Over the years, they have expanded their resort and even added a meeting room. They are willing to invest in what they believe. I am not a film critic, but we better watch Kung Fu Panda, great humor and a simple “never give up” message. Or as Po’s father, Ping fondly enlightens us: "To make something special, you just have to believe it's special."