Jakarta, June 4 (Antara) - Organized from August to October this year at the Karimata Strait that links four provinces, 'Sail Karimata' is expected to contribute to the government's target of achieving 12 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2016.
The government hopes that Sail Karimata would have high economic value that could transform the maritime sector into a main contributor to the government's target of earning some US$4 billion of foreign exchange from the tourism sector by the year 2019.
Therefore, the government has so far held various sail Indonesia events as it is convinced that these events have the potential to contribute to the tourism sector.
After all, such events that have been categorized as marine tourism activities have so far contributed still only about 10 percent of the total US$1 billion worth of foreign exchange earned from the tourism sector.
Indonesia's earnings from the tourism sector are still small compared to that of Malaysia which earns about $8 billion from this sector.
"This is a challenge for us. If our projection of $4 billion in 2019 is realized, we will still stand outclassed by Malaysia," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya stated at the launch of the event in Jakarta Wednesday (June 1).
He therefore asked the organizers to bring economic value to the Sail Karimata 2016 event which will be held in four provinces of West Kalimantan, Jambi, Bangka Belitung and Riau Islands from August to October 2016.
"Based on the directives of the president, and in view of the fact that this is a tourism event, the Sail Karimata 2016 should be organized to bring in economic value," the minister noted.
As the sail race is aimed at attracting international participants, the supporting facilities should also be of international standards, Yahya suggested.
"All the concerned human resources and facilities should be of international standards, such as the cultural events, curators, designers, music composers and choreographers."
The minister asked the organizers to help the government achieve its tourism target.
"So, I ask the team to act to achieve the target, and work in such a way that the event yields financial rewards and also helps improve people's prosperity," the minister observed.
The annual international maritime event, Sail Karimata Strait 2016, is expected to attract around 15,000 tourists.
"The target is to attract 5,000 international tourists and 10,000 domestic tourists," Minister Yahya announced during the launch of the Sail Karimata.
The amount of tourist spending was expected to reach Rp65 billion (around $5 to 6 million) in case of foreigners and Rp10 billion ($740,000) in case of domestic tourists.
"Statistically, 60 percent of tourists from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore will revisit," Yahya observed.
The Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs, Rizal Ramli, launched the international maritime event, Sail Karimata 2016 at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) Building Wednesday (June 1).
Besides economic value, the event should also have a positive impact on the efforts to expedite infrastructure development, particularly in the regions where these activities are happening, Rizal Ramli stressed.
"We want that after this event, the host regions are also able to accelerate the development of their infrastructure," Rizal hoped.
The main activities will include a national seminar on maritime affairs to be organized in Jambi on August 25, 2016, the Belitung Festival on October 22 and Riau Islands Maritime Festival on October 28.
A series of activities to welcome the Sail Karimata Strait, however, will begin on June 1 itself, while the peak event will be held in North Kayong District, West Kalimantan, on October 15.
North Kayong District Head of West Kalimantan, Hilmi Hamid, said although his region was a new location for a sail event, his side was optimistic that it would be able to organize the Sail Karimata activities during the peak event scheduled for October 15, 2016.
The event would have an economic impact on the development of the region, he believed.
"In economic terms, the event's impact has begun to be felt. In the run up to the launch, mat traders had flocked to Kayong District. Hopefully, it will have a better impact for the people of North Kayong District," Hilmi added.
The Sail Karimata Strait event is being held for the eighth time since Sail Indonesia was first organized in 2009.
The previous sail events were Sail Bunaken, held in North Sulawesi in 2009, Sail Banda in Maluku in 2010, Sail Wakatobi-Belitung in Southeast Sulawesi and Bangka Balitung in 2011, and Sail Morotai in North Maluku in 2012, in addition to Sail Komodo in East Nusa Tenggara in 2013, Sail Raja Ampat in West Papua in 2014, and Sail Tomini held in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo in 2015.
The launching of the 2016 Sail Karimata Strait was also attended by Expert Staff of the Minister of Maritime and Fishery, Suseno Sukoyono, and Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy Admiral Ade Supandi.
Like the other sail events, the current edition is aimed at promoting tourism and boosting regional development. Some 70 yachts will participate in the sail, in addition to warships and traditional boats. ***1***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/F. Assegaf) 04-06-2016 12:27:5 |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar