Jakarta, March 29 (Antara) - The International Monetary Fund-World Bank (IMF-WB) annual meetings, expected to attract 15 thousand delegates, investors, observers, journalists, and other foreign guests, is a major event that will offer significant tourism benefits.
Hence, the Indonesian government, particularly the Ministry of Tourism, is making all-out efforts to finalize preparations and to promote its tourism in the run-up to the international event to take place for about a week in the Indonesian tourist resort province of Bali next October.
The organizing committee has estimated that four thousand official delegates of the levels of ministers and Central Bank governors as well as officials from 189 member countries of the IMF and World Bank will attend the meeting.
Some five thousand investors, one thousand observers, 1,500 IMF and World Bank employees, thousands of businesspersons, and one thousand journalists are also expected to participate in the IMF-WB annual meetings. The peak of the event will take place on Oct 12-14, but business discussions and talks on the sidelines of the meeting will be held on Oct 8-14.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya has been intensively promoting the Nusantara tourism package in foreign countries before the IMF and WB meetings to be held in Bali in October 2018.
"The promotion was conducted in the hope that the international meeting would increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals to various tourist destinations in Indonesia," Minister Yahya noted after holding a closed-door meeting in the building of Bali Tourism Board in Denpasar on Wednesday (Mar 28).
Yahya noted that his ministry was promoting some 60 packages of tourist destinations in Indonesia, 33 of which are in Bali and 27 other packages scattered across various regions of the archipelago.
The tourism promotion was conducted on a large scale including for destinations in Banyuwangi, East Java; Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara; Yogjakarta; and Lake Toba of North Sumatra.
The effort will be made at the "spring meeting" or preliminary meeting in spring of the joint committees of the IMF and World Bank in the United States, on April 16-22, 2018, among others.
The government has also checked and ensured the readiness of other destinations to be offered to the delegates.
Minister Yahya affirmed that the opportunity is expected to attract delegates to international meetings that are expected to be attended by around 20 thousand people.
The organizing committee had earlier stated that the annual meeting in Bali will be attended by about 15 thousand people, but that figure continues to grow until it is estimated to be 20 thousand.
He explained that 20 thousand people are the core delegates, not including family members, who will be flown to Bali to simultaneously spend the holidays in Indonesia, so the estimated figure will most likely increase.
"However, since it is in Bali, it is almost certain that they will take their family members. We estimate that one delegate will have a family of three, so the number of guests could reach 40 or 60 thousand," he pointed out.
At least US$100 million additional money will be in circulation during the week-long meeting on Oct 8-14, not including investment or business agreements, expected to be signed by delegations on the sidelines of the major meeting.
In an effort to anticipate the arrivals of tens of thousands of foreign guests, the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has continued to develop and renovate facilities in Bali ahead of the IMF-WB annual meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali.
According to ITDC Director Abdulbar M. Mansoer, his corporation is optimistic that all facilities and infrastructure would be completed before September. The facilities being renovated include the Water Blow area, Peninsula Island area, several buildings, and access roads to the Nusa Dua area.
"We are also building a new facility called 'Crea,' or 'creative office,' to support business activities in Bali," Mansoer stated.
The Crea area will have facilities, such as lounges for Garuda Indonesia airlines, integrated bank facilities, and co-working space facilities that can be rented by startup companies.
Meanwhile, the government is preparing six additional tourist destinations outside Bali to be visited by the delegates.
"The Tourism Ministry will prepare at least six tourist destinations outside Bali, comprising West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, Lake Toba of North Sumatra, the Borobudur Temple and Banyuwangi," head of the working unit of the annual meeting Peter Jacobs had noted last month (Feb 26).
Tourist destinations outside Bali will be optimized and diversified for some 15 thousand delegates; and flight slots, access to means of land and sea transportation will also be increased to boost connectivity, Jacobs noted.
The organizing committee will provide greater transport access in the form of flights and land transportation. Hence, the benefits will not alone be felt by Bali. The six additional tourist destinations are part of the 10 tourist destinations, the development of which is a priority for the government this year.***3*** (A014/INE)EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 29-03-2018 16:32:3 |
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