Possibility of astronomical phenomena to be used to support tourism industry

Abstract

Several astronomical events in the past have shown their potential to attract tourists. This motivates some astronomers and tourism activists to create tourism related events when an interesting astronomical phenomenon occur. The most attractive recent astronomical phenomenon for tourists was the solar eclipse as was proven during the total solar eclipse of March 9, 2016. Similarly, other phenomena such as the lunar eclipse, meteor shower, Mars Opposition have some potential to be exploited as events to attract tourists. Belitong Geopark had organized a sky observation event, for example super blue blood moon event on January 31, 2018 and Mars opposition event on July 21, 2018. It successfully drew attention far and wide, but it needed more effort and creativity to make these events more attractive and marketable. Other cultural heritage sites which contain inherent astronomical tie-in knowledge, such as Borobudur Temple, are also strong prospective to be developed for astro-tourism destinations. In the future, astro-tourism permanent facilities may be developed, for example, sky observation facilities for amateurs in Dark Sky National Park, near Mount Timau National Observatory in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province.