Indonesia eyes million-dollar deal on MICE

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.