Travel mart to open this week

JAKARTA (JP): The number of foreign participants registered for this weekend's Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME 2000) has jumped to 109, which is a sign of increased confidence in the country's political situation, organizers said.

Only 65 foreign participants were registered for Time 2000 before the start of the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on Aug. 8, they said on Saturday.

The number of Indonesian sellers taking part in the Sept. 9 to Sept. 13 event also has increased, rising to 142 firms from 16 provinces from 130 firms in 1999, they said.

"Sellers think TIME 2000, the first tourism expo in the 21st century, is a very strategic event to offer tourism packages", the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board said in a statement.

TIME 2000 is a joint cooperation between the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board, the Jakarta administration, the Indonesian Hotel & Restaurants Association, national flag-carriers Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara Airlines, the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies and several other organizations. (02).