Indonesia eyes million-dollar deal on MICE

By I. Christianto

GENEVA (JP): Indonesia expects to tap hundreds of millions of dollars from foreigners coming here for business meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions.

Den Zachrie, director of convention and international relations at the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication, said here yesterday that meetings, incentives, convention and exhibitions (MICE) will contribute a significant amount of foreign exchange to the country's coffers.

"Visitors coming to Indonesia for MICE purposes have particular characteristics. They choose first-class hotels, first-class restaurants and spend more money," Zachrie said after attending the opening of the European Incentive and Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (EIBTM).

The opening ceremony was also attended by Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland Machmud Subarkah.

The exhibition, held annually here since nine years ago by the EIBTM Holdings Ltd. of Britain, is the world's largest event of its kind.

"The event always attracts buyers and sellers from all over the world," Zachrie told The Jakarta Post.

For the first time this year, some 2,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries and 36 international associations are participating in the event.

They include Netherlands-based International Congress and Convention Association, Belgium-based Association Internationale des Palais des Congres, and United States-based Meeting Professionals International.

Indonesia has participated in the European Incentive and Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition since 1989. This year, Indonesia's participants include the Jakarta Convention Center, Sahid Hotels, Hyatt Resort Bali, Pacto Convex, Sheraton Resorts Bali, the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board and the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

Zachrie said Indonesia's participation in the exhibition will help promote the country's tourist industry, which is expected to become a major non-oil foreign exchange earner in the coming years.

Tourism has contributed a significant amount of foreign exchange to the country's coffers. Last year, it gave the country US$5.2 billion in revenues from some 4.3 million foreign visitors.

Of the total foreign exchange Indonesia earned from foreign tourists last year, 30 percent were from visitors who came here for meetings, incentives, convention and exhibition purposes.

Zachrie said main regional sources for Indonesia's tourist industry are Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as America.

The main tourist destinations for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions remain Jakarta and Bali. However, the government is promoting other cities as destinations for these purposes, including Bandung in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, Yogyakarta, Medan in North Sumatra and Bukittinggi in West Sumatra.