Timor-Leste is a half-island brimming with stunning mountains and idyllic beaches. Kept secret from the world due to its isolation and limited availability of information, it is now emerging as a destination for intrepid tourists pursuing a taste of the unexplored.

As tantalizing as that description might be to bring the few backpackers that do make the journey to Timor-Leste, it is frustrating for business people attempting to develop livelihoods which are reliant on tourism.

Tourists still rely on outdated descriptions and word of mouth to determine where they will go, what they will  do and where they will stay. This is where the new website Filaliman.tl hopes to bridge a gap.

Launched in February 2018 by the Secretary of State for Youth and Labour, Filaliman.tl provides a simple way for businesses to promote themselves by providing a free, permanent, simple to use, online directory controlled entirely by the businesses themselves to promote tourism and other initiatives.

Knua Juventude Fila Liman (KJFL) staff have been busy showing businesses and community groups how they can use the website to ensure they are contactable by potential customers.

Part of this promotion of the website has involved travelling to municipalities to meet directly with the small businesses, guest houses and hotels to help them become part of the growing directory of contactable businesses. This will provide tourists and locals with a single source of up-to-date information about where they can stay and available activities.

The KJFL team has now registered accommodation located in all 13 of Timor- Leste’s municipalities. From Tutuala which overlooks the most  the eastern point of the island of Timor and is the jumping off point for Jaco Island to Fort Balibo which overlooks the western border crossing at Batugade, tourists can find details of places to stay, removing some of the risk of setting off into the unknown.

Fully funded by UNDP in Timor-Leste, the KJFL team has also been visiting local IADE Business Centres (CDEs) and Community Development Centres (CDC) to ensure that the information available on the website will spread to businesses and customers who will value it. KJFL is also spreading information through municipality youth centres across Timor-Leste.

In this way KJFL is fulfilling its role as a network agent, putting together all pieces of the puzzle that make up a diverse, functioning market economy and ultimately support private sector development. New entrepreneurs throughout the country can access the wealth of information and guidance they need to get their new businesses up and running.