Jakarta, March 31 (Antara) - South Sulawesi's Toraja tourist resort region is gearing up to offer a unique experience to thousands of delegates arriving to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-World Bank (WB) annual meetings in Bali in October.
The Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (Asita) has continued to strengthen coordination with the local governments of the districts of Tana Toraja and North Toraja in the face of the IMF-WB annual meetings.
Toraja, or also often called Tana Toraja, is one of the scenic regions comprising two districts in South Sulawesi. From afar, one can spot the jagged ridges of the hill stretching side by side along the slopes of the mountains.
Moreover, one can also enjoy the sights of valleys, with bamboo and sugar palms, and traditional houses with curved roofs among the paddy fields, beautiful and naturally carved and colored by the skillful people of Toraja.
Hence, Head of the South Sulawesi branch of Asita Didi L. Manaba remarked in Makassar on Saturday (Mar 31) that his side had met the governments of the two districts to optimize the various concepts or destination programs to be offered to members of the IMF-WB delegations to visit Toraja's tourism destinations.
"We have met and discussed several matters related to preparations for welcoming the IMF-WB delegation members, who will hold annual meetings in Bali in October 2018," he said.
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 WB 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.
However, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya affirmed that the opportunity is expected to attract delegates to international meetings that are expected to be attended by some 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," the minister remarked.
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.
Hence, the IMF-WB meetings are expected to offer benefits to the tourism industry in Indonesia, including Toraja in South Sulawesi. Hence, the local governments of the districts of Toraja are making efforts to capitalize on this occasion.
Well-known for its burial caves and preserved cultures, Tanah Toraja District continues to promote itself as one of the country's major tourist destinations besides Bali Island.
The word toraja comes from the Bugis language "to riaja," meaning people of the uplands.
The Torajan people had little notion of themselves as a distinct ethnic group before the 20th century.
Before the Dutch colonization and Christianization, Torajans, who lived in the highland areas, identified with their villages and did not share a broad sense of identity.
Although complexes of rituals created linkages between highland villages, there were variations in dialects, differences in social hierarchies, and an array of ritual practices in the Sulawesi highland region.
"Toraja" was first used as a lowlander expression for highlanders. The Dutch colonial government named the people Toraja in 1909. Torajans are renowned for their elaborate funeral rites, burial sites carved into rocky cliffs, massive peaked-roof traditional houses known as tongkonan, and colorful wood carvings.
Toraja funeral rites are important social events, usually attended by hundreds of people and lasting for several days.
The local government has resolved to regain Toraja's glory after tourist visits to the region declined sharply, leaving the numbers at a mere 30 thousand, following the economic crisis in 1998.
Toraja, during its glorious period, had been visited by about 385 thousand tourists in 1996. The economic crisis and Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005 have had severe impacts on the tourist arrivals in Toraja.
However, the arrivals of foreign tourists are currently returning to normal. The local Tourism Service Office had set foreign tourist arrivals at 120 thousand last year.
In certain months, such as in June and during the period from September to December, hotel rooms were fully occupied since during this period, several Torajans returned to their villages from outside the region to perform Rambu "Solo Rambu" and "Tuka Rambu" rituals for deceased family members or relatives, or "Rampanan Kapa" wedding ceremonies held in Toraja customary traditions.
Toraja is developed as a choice tourist destination in South Sulawesi. Visitors are expected to highlight Toraja's arts and cultural richness abroad. To boost the number of tourist arrivals, besides intensive promotion, Toraja continues to improve its infrastructure that serve as vital means for tourists visiting the region.
Visitors to South Sulawesi will need to take a series of connecting flights, with the last leg of the journey starting from Jakarta. From there, travelers will need to board a flight to the Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, the provincial capital in South Sulawesi. Visitors will thereafter need to take a flight to the Pongtiku Airport in Tana Toraja.
The tourism office of the South Sulawesi is optimistic that delegates arriving at the IMF-WB annual meetings will have the opportunity to visit Toraja.***3***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 31-03-2018 15:39 |
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