Timor pushes for tourist dollar

East Timor's miles of pristine beaches are seen as a key attraction

DILI, East Timor (CNN) -- It has pristine white sand beaches, world-class diving, stunning mountain scenery and it is ready to welcome the world's tourists.

As the world's newest nation -- and one of its poorest -- East Timor is looking to attract visitors spending hard cash as a way of boosting its fragile economy.

For those looking for adventure, with a pioneering spirit, and who don't expect everything in the way of modern home comforts, the tiny half-island nation certainly has a lot to offer.

Given the country's largely pristine and rugged environment, Marcio Rosa Lay, Acting Director of Tourism, says the initial focus of East Timor's drive to attract visitors will be on eco-tourism and adventure tourism -- with an emphasis on sustainability.

"We want to support and expose East Timor's traditions, culture and environment to the world," he says.

"But at the same time we need to preserve them, they are a very valuable resource."

Although his department operates on a tiny budget -- just $35,000 a year -- Rosa Lay has high hopes for East Timor's tourist industry -- predicting up to 50,000 tourists a year will be visiting by 2005.

He expects that most of the new visitors will come from Australia and the wealthier Asian nations such as Singapore, as well as from former colonial power Portugal.

However, he admits that two-and-half-years after the territory was virtually destroyed by pro-Indonesian militias, East Timor still has something of an image problem.

"Although we had problems in the past," he says, "all that is behind us now. We are a safe country."

Unexplored waters

East Timor has some of the best dive sites in the world, many of which are unexplored

The only factor potential visitors should be aware of, Rosa Lay says, is mosquitoes and mosquito-born diseases -- an issue that a visitor to any tropical country needs to take into account.

One place where mosquitoes aren't a problem though is underwater, with scuba diving playing a leading role in opening up the new nation's tourist industry.

Currently, East Timor has three dive operators offering those with the cash the opportunity to dive some of the most pristine and unexplored tropical waters in the world.

The sea life off East Timor's coast is abundant -- positively crowded even -- having been largely only fished by subsistence fishermen catching no more than they need to feed themselves and their families.

Black- and white-tip reef sharks are regularly seen, as are the ornate but poisonous Lionfish and schools of giant, prehistoric-looking Humpheaded Parrotfish.

Also seen are rare dugongs, as well as dolphins, whales and whale-sharks – the largest fish on the planet.

On the south coast are reported to be large numbers of the bizarre-looking Hammerhead sharks, although dive operators say that to get to them, you first have to get past the crocodiles that inhabit the area closer to shore. So perhaps that option is only for the hardy!

The reef itself is a riot of color, shapes and forms, with excellent diving and snorkeling within 45 minutes drive outside of East Timor's sleepy seafront capital, Dili.

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Traveling further afield, East Timor's coast and its sparsely inhabited offshore islands offer dozens of dive sites that have yet to be explored.

Freeflow, one of the first companies to set up shop in East Timor run by two former Reuters journalists, says many areas are virtually untouched and have never been dived before.

"The diving here is among the best in the world," says Freeflow dive guide and instructor Luke Jones. "There is great visibility the marine life is virtually untouched."

He says the company has been giving free dive lessons to local East Timorese as a way of building up support in the community to understand and protect the marine environment.

It makes good business sense, says Jones. "Without the reef, we can't operate – it's that simple," he says.

Another company operating dive tours -- and more -- is recently established Dive Timor Lorasae.

Backed by several million dollars from Australian investors the company is planning a broad range of activities, aside from diving, targeting the adventure tourism market.

Among them, says owner Mark Mialszygrosz, is a tour tentatively titled "The Freedom Trail".

Eco and adventure tourism

Portuguese rule left behind many colonial era buildings dotted across East Timor

The proposed tour would give visitors the chance to travel some of the trails and visit some of the camps once used by the Falintil resistance in their long and bitter guerilla struggle against Indonesian rule.

Other possibilities being looked at are white-water rafting adventures, kayaking, rock-climbing and tours to some of East Timor's most remote areas in specially imported six-wheel-drive vehicles.

"The kind of tourist we expect to get are people looking for adventure, looking for fun, and willing to put up with the unexpected," says Mialszygrosz.

To date, he says, the government has been very accommodating to new tourist businesses seeking to set up shop in East Timor, looking to them to help set up guidelines for new investors.

"They've looked at other countries where investors have just wanted to make a quick buck, with no concern for environment, and seen what happened," he says.

"Here the government is setting a very high standard for environmental issues."

For the moment, options for reaching East Timor are limited, with flights into Dili's tiny Comoro airport largely restricted to those coming from Bali and the northern Australian city of Darwin.

Both routes are relatively expensive, but tourism officials say they expect prices to come down once the number of flights, and hence competition, increases.

On the accommodation front, hotel options are abundant in Dili, where there is even a backpackers hostel.

Outside of the capital however, they are largely non-existent with just one guest house operating in a former Portuguese colonial hill station.

For the time being, says the Tourism department's Rosa Lay, that is not a problem.

"Those people who have traveled around East Timor find that local villagers will happily put them up in their own homes," he says.

"They don't expect money, but we hope that visitors will make a contribution – this way we can make a visit to East Timor more rewarding for both sides."