Asahan : The New Jewel of North Sumatra

Overview

Asahan Regency is a national and international tourist destination in North Sumatra. Asahan Regency has high accessibility and can be reached from land, sea, or air. Accessibility to Kabupaten Asahan is supported by direct access to Teluk Nibung Sea Port, Trans Sumatra Toll Road, and Railway. Asahan is a potential hub connecting existing cities and tourist destinations. Still located in the same province, the Lake Toba KSPN can become a tourism gateway that is interconnected with tourist destinations in Asahan Regency.

Opportunities

Overall, Asahan Regency has good tourism potential and opportunities in terms of its strategic location, existing stunning natural tourist objects, and its location close to other strategic tourism areas in the area around Asahan Regency. Natural tourism potential in Asahan includes rafting on the Asahan River, Jambuara Waterfall, Aek Lumut, Sigura-gura and Ponot, Pacur Napitu, Lotus Lake, and Kelapa Gading Lake Tourism Park.

Constraints

Apart from the potential, there are several obstacles faced by Asahan Regency in developing its tourism. System integration between tourist destinations is the first obstacle that is quite important and needs to be resolved immediately. Inadequate quality of infrastructure facilities is also the second obstacle that needs to be repaired along with improvements to the first obstacle. The third obstacle is that Asahan Regency is often only a transit point or entry point, so the duration of stay of foreign tourists is low. The lack of information and amenities in the tourist area also contributed to the obstacles Asahan faced.

Concept

Shirvano Consulting assists the local government in creating a tourism master plan based on the opportunities and constraints faced by Asahan District. As a result, the Shirvanian team put forward the tagline 'Asahan: A Gateway for North Sumatra's Tourism Corridor.' To support this vision, our team came up with several ideas, such as:

• Making Asahan a hidden treasure of special interest & eco-tourism.
• A leading hub for transit & tourism activities.
• A place for nature conservation & sustainable agriculture.
• Strengthening community & economic development.