Wae Rebo was a secluded hamlet until it became a tourist village as it is today. How did Wae Rebo turn from a remote hamlet into a tourist village?

I always had been in’trigued to visit the traditional village of Wae Rebo in the island of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. It was only in early November 2021 when I finally had a chance of visiting Wae Rebo on a fully organized field trip with my Tourism students and my colleagues.

We started off in Labuan Bajo, a port town on the ‘western coast of Flores. After about 5 hours of car ride through a winding road, we arrived at Denge Village at noon. From here, we continued with a 4-hour trek to Wae Rebo.

We eventually arrived at Wae Rebo just before the sun set. It was quite bright when we got to Wae Rebo. That familiar, iconic view of Wae Rebo I only saw on the internet was just right in front of my eyes! Seven cone-shaped, traditional houses sit in a semi-circular line on a plateau, surrounded by forested mountains. And I ‘tell you: It looked exactly as stunning as it does on the pictures.

Wae Rebo is situated 1,100 (eleven hundred) meter above sea level, enjoying a relatively cool climate throughout the year. Visitors are drawn here not only because of its extraordinary views, but also to experience local cultural heritage, such as staying inside the extra mbaru niang built for guests, interacting with locals, and learning how locals live their daily life.

At certain times, visitors can observe local ceremonies, such as that to honor locals ancestors’ spirits and the Almighty, and watch dance performances.

The history of Wae Rebo community is quite interesting. According to one of the elders, their ancestors came from western Sumatra – about 3,400 (thirty four hundred) kms away from Flores. Today, there are 1200 (‘twelve hundred) community members who live in Wae Rebo (Hucal, 2018), and they are said to be the 18th generation since their forefathers first arrived and settled in the region.

Wae Rebo did not instantly turn into a tourist village. According to one source, the first visit by outsiders to the hamlet ever recorded was in 1984. During that time, the local community still depended on agriculture, which produced rice, corns, yams, and coffee beans, among others.

However, due to a more unpre’dictable cli’matic con’dition in the following decade, the produce kept decreasing in ‘volume. Such condition made local community wondered if there was an alternative way to sustain their livelihood. In early 2000s, a concerned local community member initiated a contact with an expert in ecotourism in Jakarta to help address the issue.

So, here’s the milestone. Together with a number of external organizations – both at national and international levels, the Wae Rebo community launched numerous efforts to build their hamlet as a cultural village – such as renovating their traditional houses (known as mbaru niang), conserving the local natural ecosystem, rebuilding their local economy, building community’s skills in hospitality, and creating a tourist market.

As a result, one of their achievements was receiving an Award of Excellence from UNESCO in 2012 (twenty twelve) for their renovated vernacular houses. What’s more, the number of visitors to Wae Rebo rose tenfold from as many as 393 (three hundred and ninety three) in 2011 (twenty eleven) to 3,446 (three thousand four hundred and forty six) in 2015, and kept increasing to 7,000 (seven thousands) in 2018 (twenty eighteen).

Wae Rebo is an example of a village that applies both ecotourism and community-based tourism to help sustain its economy. Ecotourism allows communities to generate income without relying too much on natural resource, to minimize negative effects on the environments (Hucal, 2018), while community-based tourism allows local community to actively participate in local tourism activities, such as providing accommodation and food and beverages for visitors.

In Wae Rebo, receiving new incomes from tourism doesn’t mean local community abandon their agricultural ‘sector. Instead, tourism strengthens local economy, in that local community is able to gain additional incomes from tourism aside from agriculture.

Some of the ‘ncomes were used for ‘heritage conservation – including preserving their mbaru niang – as well as for other purposes, such as funding local youth’s education and maintaining pensions for the elders.

In brief, the ‘tourism development in Wae Rebo began with local community’s aspiration to help sustain their livelihood after facing challenges with their crops. With the help from ‘external ‘organizations, local community developed ecotourism and implemented community-based tourism to help strengthen local economy.

We left Wae Rebo on the following day, trekking the same track we passed before. Even though the trekking was physically challenging, our visit to Wae Rebo was both exhilarating and insightful.