INDONESIA REAPS HUGE SUCCESS IN BERLIN TOURISM BOURSE 2013 by Fardah

    Jakarta, March 17, 2013 (Antara) - Indonesia, which was proud of being the official partner country of ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin) 2013 in Germany, claimed that it has recorded a huge success during the travel show joined by over 10,000 tourism stakeholders from 188 nations.

         Nia Niscaya, the Overseas Promotion Director of the Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economic Ministry, said recently that major international tour operators have confidence in Indonesia and are willing to offer the country as a main tourist destination to their clients.

         "This 'new account' is Indonesia's biggest achievement during its participation in the ITB Berlin this year," she said. 
    World-class tour operators such as Thomas Cook and TUI have included many Indonesian tour packages in their offers to tourists from Germany and Europe in general.

         During the ITB 2013 held from March 5 t0 10, 2013, Indonesian was highly acclaimed by media which saw the country as a new tourism power in Asia. 
    "This 'new account' will continuously be upgraded by improving various Indonesian destinations which have been regarded as part of the 16 main tourist destinations and seven special interests," she said.

         Indonesia's pavilion dubbed as "Wonderful Indonesia" in the ITB Berlin 2013 won as the second best pavilion for the Asian, Australian and Oceania regions.

         "We must maintain this achievement," she stated.

         The Indonesian Pavilion was designed by Wilhelm Johannes with a phinisi tall ship as its icon and was inspired by the background of the 'Heart Matters' formulated by the Wonderful Indonesia Team.

         According to Wilhelm Johannes, 'Heart Matters' is an expression of matters relating to the life of the Indonesian people that covers human beings, earth and arts.

         The phinisi tall ship is a sea transportation means since time immemorial for Indonesian sailors who live in the archipelagic country, particularly South Sulawesi, which is dominated by water areas.    
    Taking the phinisi ship as an icon for the Indonesian pavilion is also an effort to boost the country's marine tourism promotion program.

         Indonesia has organized a series of Sail Indonesia marine tourism events such as Sail Bunaken (in North Sulawesi), Sail Banda (Maluku), Sail Wakatobi-Belitung (Southeast Sulawesi and Bangka Belitung/Sumatra), and Sail Morotai (North Maluku).

         The ITB Berlin was officially opened by Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

         In his speech in Berlin on March 5, 2013, President Yudhoyono told all guests present in the opening ceremony that "Indonesia is addictive, consider yourselves warned. Many visitors have continued to return over again to enjoy its wonderful beauty and the warmth of its people."
    Last year, some 8 million foreign tourists visited Indonesia. The country received income worth US$ 41 billion from the tourism industry that has created around 9 million jobs.

         "We are aiming to reach 10 million tourists by 2014, and I hope our friends here at ITB Berlin can help us achieve this target," Yudhoyono stated.

         Acting as the top salesman of the country, the President asked the guests to explore the amazing Indonesia, which has many things to offer, from the Borobudur Temple in Yogyakarta to the Komodo dragon in East Nusa Tenggara.

         As the official partner country, Indonesia had the privilege of being the host of the opening ceremony of the ITB Berlin 2013
at the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC).

         Indonesia, the first ASEAN member country that has become the ITB partner country, presented a number of its traditional dances and musics, and served Indonesian delicacies to almost 4,500 guests in a gala dinner.

         The opening ceremony featured a number of Indonesian singers, musicians and dancers, accompanied by multimedia shows featuring traditional aspects of the unique nature and culture of the world's largest archipelago with its more than 17,000 islands.

         El Salvador's Deputy Tourism Minister Lic Walter Aleman praised Indonesia's presentation in the opening ceremony of the world's leading travel trade show, as "spectacular". 
    Indonesia has participated in the ITB Berlin, which was organized for the first time in 1966, for 45 times.

         In 2012, the world's largest tourism bourse was visited by around 172,000 people, including 113,000 trade exhibitors.

         Indonesia hopes to attract more tourists from Germany in particular and Europe in general. German tourists are considered of having the highest quality.

         The number of German tourists visiting Indonesia in 2012 was around 153,000 people, and is expected to increase to 165,000 in 2013.

         Every German tourist in Indonesia spends US$2,240 per visit in average, or three times higher than the average foreign tourists. German tourists stay for two weeks at the average in Indonesia, while other foreign tourists only one week.

         Indonesia had targeted to increase its transaction value during the ITB Berlin by 20-30 percent from US$2.32 million in transactions last year.

         The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry's Director General of Tourism Marketing Esthy Reko Astuty said in a press conference in Jakarta prior to the implementation of the world travel show, that the target was based on the increase in the number of Indonesian
tourism industries joining the ITB 2013, namely 90 participants.

         "In 2012, we just brought 60 tourism industries to participate in the ITB and we collected US$2.32 million or Rp2.14 trillion in transactions during the event. Hence our prediction in 2013 it could increase 20-30 percent," she said.

         The largest travel industry event of its kind in the world, ITB Berlin 2014 will be organized from March 5 to 6, next year. The ITB official website reported that in 2013 a total of 10,644 exhibitors from 187 countries displayed their products and services to 172,000 visitors, who included 113,006 trade visitors. ***3***
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(T.F001/A/F. Assegaf/Bustanuddin) 17-03-2013 15:17:06