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Unlike traditional mass tourism, agro tourism is an interesting niche industry that allows visitors to learn more about the agriculture products of a place, as well as the interconnection of these goods – both in production and use - within the local community. After leaving Mt. Bromo I had the opportunity to visit the Margo Utomo Agro Resort located in the small town of Kalibaru, East Java. This area is particularly well known for its plantations.
The founder of Margo Utomo, Mr. R. H. Moch inherited 9 hectares of plantation land from his father in the 1940s. After thirty years, and the addition of a dairy farm, Mr. Moch decided to evolve his business into one that showed tourists the interconnection between a plantation, its workers, and the land. The agro resort now includes 51 cottages and sparked the creation of Margo Utomo Cottages, which has 30 rooms. The style of both places is a mix of the colonial past integrated with traditional Javanese. Though Mr. Moch passed away in 2000, the Margo Utomo organization is still managed by his family.
I reached Kalibaru by bus. On arrival I was directed to Margo Utomo’s which is one block off the main street in town, and directly across from the train station. I waited in the open air lobby, decorated with a huge gamelan instrument set, to speak with Ms. Mariana, daughter of the late founder, and with Ms. Lynda Margaretha, head of marketing. Sitting down with the women, they told me a little more about the resort and their interaction with the local community. As a good-sized local business in a small town, the majority of their employees, about 99% of the150 workers, are locals. As Lynda explains, they have a very low turnover so it’s in everybody’s best interest to provide training to maximize the skills of the employees – this makes it easy for employees to switch roles, and those that learn English and/or Dutch also have the option of becoming guides. It was from their staff that they got the idea to start village tours to local home industries, like that of tofu and peanuts, thus allowing the guests more interaction with the local community and allowing tourism to compliment these other business sectors.
The Dairy farm, home to over 50 cows that produce milk, is still a central part of Margo Utomo. Besides providing a fun attraction to visitors, especially the baby cows, the milk and cheese produced is served at the local restaurant. The waste products produced is maybe of more value to the local area, as it is this natural organic fertilizer that is used on the plantation, and even sold to other plantations. In fact, it seems like a very holistic interaction between the 2 resorts, dairy farm, and plantation – guests visit the plantation, eat products produced from the dairy farm, and then the fertilizer is used to grow the crops at the plantation. As Ms. Mariana informs me, while at the present it’s primarily the fertilizer used that’s organic, in the next years they hope to switch their suppliers into providing organic food. Currently, they are working with local farmers to educate them about organic farming, as well as their staff on how to prepare food so that no MSG or other additives are included.
The ladies are kind enough to find a guide to take me around the plantation and dairy farm. The baby cows really are adorable with their big black eyes. I’m also shown how they produce brown sugar, which involves hours of boiling before it is finally at the right consistency to be used for the restaurant’s homemade cakes and desserts. In the back of the resort is the plantation. It’s filled with coffee, cocoa, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and vanilla trees as well as local fruits, including durian. Large pits are dug in the ground, which the guide explains is to provide water during the dry season. All the plants are watered naturally, no sprinklers are used.
The Margo Utomo Agro Resort and Hill View Cottages seem to provide a pleasant type of alternative tourism that is low impact and compliments the local area. While they don’t currently have a responsible tourism policy, both women said it was a part of the plan for the near future. As they put it, guests are more willing to be critical of certain practices they don’t find sustainable, which means the hotels must step up to adopt new and alternative approaches.
