Jakarta, Sept 29 (Antara) - Locals in the Bitung City in North Sulawesi are all excited as they await the parade of decorated ships, a highlight of the Lembeh Strait Charm Festival (FPSL) to be held from October 6-10, 2016.
The decorated ships' parade will be a highpoint of the festival in the strait separating the Lembeh Island with the mainland Bitung in North Sulawesi.
"Besides a ship parade, there will also be maritime cultural attractions aimed at promoting the local tourism in the Lembeh Strait," Benny Lontoh, the head of North Sulawesi's Industry and Trade Service, said in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, on Thursday.
As the Lembeh festival draws near, the local government and officials are now busy making preparations. The annual FPSL festival will be the sixth to be held in the Bitung City. In the past, the festival remained largely local and was more or less an expression of thanksgiving.
The festival used to involve fishermen who ply their trade in the strait. However, this year, it has assumed international dimensions and will be noticed globally.
"We are now paying great attention to the tourism sector because we are convinced it can help in attaining sustainable economic growth," Benny Lontoh added.
He stated that the local officials had begun preparing for various activities. Usually, only parades used to be conducted, and that too on the roads. These will be shifted to the strait. However, a marathon race will still be organized in which international runners will take part. Some runners are coming from Kenya.
"The marathon race will involve 25 thousand local and international runners," he noted.
The Lembeh Strait also has at least 96 diving spots where divers can dive round the year.
The opening ceremony of the Lembeh Strait Charm Festival 2016 on October 6, 2016 will feature a series of activities such as a culinary charm festival, a cultural enchantment stage, including a colorful Bitung 10K run, underwater coral plantation, Pakura decoration carnival, Bitung colorful enchantment and various other folk festivals. The festival will continue till October 10, 2016.
The festival is expected to promote the city of Bitung as an international hub port and a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), thus positioning it as a district with much potential in industry and trade and one that has an international port city, a fisheries town, a tourism city and a city focused on nature conservation.
According to the Deputy Mayor of Bitung, Maurits Mantiri, who is also Chairman of the Working Group of the FPSL, the program will start on October 7, 2016. However, preparations will start on October 1, 2016.
The FPSL 2016 festivities will include competitions, culinary and 'masamper' cultural festivals as well as various other traditional cultural contests.
Bitung Mayor Jonas Maximilian Lomban had said recently that the Bitung City has a diverse range of tourist attractions, including beaches, resorts, hotels, home-stays and the Mount Two Sudara (literally meaning twin).
"Similarly, it offers the charms of the sea, and has snorkeling facilities at its natural beaches, including the Lembeh Strait which has 91 diving spots that are also home to a variety of rare organisms," he stated.
"The Lembeh Strait Charm Festival 2016 will help earn more foreign exchange in addition to attracting foreign tourists," Erwin Kontu, spokesman of the Bitung City Government in Bitung, observed on Wednesday.
According to Kontu, the Bitung City government continues to promote the FPSL to attract more people. Under the direction of Mayor Maxmillaan Jonas Lomban, the Bitung City will accord priority to the development of its tourism potential because this is one activity that exploits resources that are not going to run out.
"It's different from natural resources that cannot be renewed," added Kontu.
The Lembeh Strait Charm Festival 2016 program will include the Shining Maritime Bitung (B3) event which will introduce its Five Enchantment Tourism Pillars to be carried at the Hotel Indonesia Traffic Circle (Bundaran HI) in Jakarta this month.
A total of 1.8 million domestic and 30,000 foreign tourists had visited North Sulawesi last year. Of these, 13,019 foreign visitors and 20,133 domestic tourists had visited the city of Bitung.
Bitung is very strategically located along the Pacific Rim. As an international hub port and with an SEZ, Bitung can develop its potential as an industrial city, a city of world tourism, and a city alive to nature conservation.
North Sulawesi Governor Olly Dondokambey noted that Bitung was easily accessible because it is just 50 kilometers (about 1 hour drive in a four-wheel vehicle) from the provincial capital of Manado.
"Currently, many chartered flights arrive in Manado from China, Macau and Hong Kong. They are served by Lion Air, Citilink and Sriwijaya airlines," he stated.
***1***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 29-09-2016 21:55: |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar