The chief of Lombok’s Mount Rinjani National Park Agency said plans to separate the sexes overnight on the mountain will not now go ahead.
There were calls from the local community to separate male and female hikers in tents to support Lombok’s halal tourism objectives.
This would have only impacted single travellers and not married couples.
There was a belief in some quarters that last year’s earthquakes were a direct result of ‘disrespectful’ actions by hikers.
However the majority of local people and the hiking industry were vehemently against the proposal, especially as hiking trails had only just reopened following the series of quakes last summer.
The proposal garnered a lot of criticism that it would hamper North Lombok’s tourism recovery.
"Regarding the idea to separate male and female tents in the Rinjani hiking area, which sparked controversy, we underline that the program will not be implemented because it is not a priority," park head Sudiyono said.
"With all due respect, we wish for everyone to stop the debate because if it continues it would only bring damage to Indonesia’s tourist industry."
The main priority, Sudiyono said, is to repair and maintain hiking trails and improve trash collection from the 3.700-metre mountain.
Hiking trails only reopened earlier this month after being off-limits since last year’s eathquakes.
