Bing Hamidy, however, doesn't agree that Lombok is 'culturally impoverished'. "Lombok's cultural potential is nothing when compared to that of its natural environment. But that doesn't mean Lombok is culturally impoverished. There are many elements of Sasak culture that are suitable as tourism commodities. The problem is that nobody has shown interest in investing to develop local culture for tourists' consumption," he says. According to Hamidy, it weren't for lack of investors, Lombok would be flooded with cultural packages for the tourism industry.

OBSTACLES

There remain, however, a number of obstacles hindering Lombok's development as a destination for domestic and international tourists. The most glaring obstacle is the lack of infrastructure on the island. Transport to the island itself, both by air and by sea, is much in need of improvement, Lombok is yet have an international airport, and the roads on the island are still very poor. This latter point is perhaps of the greatest concern, for many tourists complain that the poor condition of the roads has hindered their passage to the tourist destinations in the island's interior.