De Cuellar, Naisbitt to talk on tourism

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Former UN secretary-general Havier Perez de Cuellar and futurist John Naisbitt will address a three-day International Conference on "cultural tourism" at Gadjah Mada University here, which begins today.

The conference, organized by the Indonesian-Swiss Forum on Culture and International Tourism, intends to focus discussion on community-based tourism development.

Some noted speakers will present papers to the conference, including the World Tourism Organization's Henryk Hanshuz; South African Minister of Environment and Tourism D.J. de Villiers; Mohammed Arkoun of the Sorbonne University in Paris; and Ismail Serageldin of the World Bank.

Gadjah Mada University's Budiono, who is also vice chairman of the meeting's organizing committee, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that conference participants will be divided into working groups to discuss seven different topics, including human resources development in the tourism industry, the role of the private sector in cultural tourism and heritage and environmental management.

The working groups' meetings will be held in various places of cultural significance, such as the Prambanan Museum, the Affandy Fine Arts Museum and the Ardiyanto Gallery.

Over 400 participants from 25 countries are expected to take part in the conference, which is held every two years, in Yogyakarta and a Swiss city alternately.

The conference, to be opened by Speaker of the House of Representatives Wahono, will feature cultural events and exhibitions of paintings and handicrafts. One highlight will be a fashion show, involving five prominent Indonesia designers, entitled Haute Couture Indonesia. The show is to be held in the shadow of the Prambanan Hindu Temples on Thursday evening.

Last night, Yogyakarta Governor Paku Alam VIII hosted a dinner party for the delegates to the conference at the Kasongan Crafts Village in Bantul, about 15 km south of here. Kasongan has been developed as a center of pottery crafts by the local administration.

This morning's opening ceremony will feature a dance performed by students of the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Institute of the Arts and a demonstration of pencak silat, a local martial art, involving more than 3,000 youths.(Mun)