De Cuellar, Naisbitt to talk on tourism

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)