Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) is held in Makassar, Southern Sulawesi, for the second time after 2006. During October 14-17, 2008 international buyers from all over the world meet local sellers of tourism products from many islands and provinces in Indonesia at the newly built Celebes Convention Centre.
Makassar is a fascinating new tourist destination on the island of Sulawsi and is served by eight domestic airlines from the capital Jakarta. From Makassar, domestic flights expand to all eastern parts of Indonesia. Also, for international flights, Makassar is nowadays connected with Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur by AirAsia on a daily basis.
Toraja Land is up till now the preferred tourist attraction to visit in South Sulawesi with an average of 65% of tourists from overseas. By taking this monumentum, it was announced during the opening press conference on October 15 by Mr. Ana Saing, Head of South Sulawesi Culture & Tourism Office, that in the context of “Visit Indonesia Year 2008″ there will be the launching of “Lovely December in Toraja Land” offering a 50% discount on all tourism packages.
This activity is assigned to push tourism development of South Sulawesi higher and to make South Sulawesi as the “centre point” of Indonesia through tourism.
In a pre-show excursion tour on October 14, delegates were driven to the impressive Fort Rotterdam in Makassar and to the scenic Bantimurung Waterfall some 60km away.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
October 16th, 2008
Makassar (ANTARA News) - The government is optimistic that its foreign tourist arrival target of six million - seven million this year will be achieved, a senior tourism ministry official said.
“We are optimistic the target will be reached considering the enthusiasm of foreign tourists to spend new year`s eve overseas, and Indonesia has become one favorite destination,” Fatta Nirwana, d director general of marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said at the opening of a Tourism Indonesia Mart and Expo (TIME) 2008 at the Celebes Convention Center here Wednesday.
As per August 2008, the number of foreign tourists visiting Indonesia had reached four million, compared to 3.6 million during the same period in 2007.
Regarding the year-end moment, he said he was optimistic the country would attract two to three million more foreign tourists bringing the total number of foreign tourist arrivals for the whole year to seven million.
On the tourism potentials of Indonesia`s eastern regions (KTI), he said eastern Indonesia regions such as Tana Toraja in South Sulawesi were already widely known among foreign tourists.
“Tana Toraja has become a brand for South Sulawesi, and is a favorite destination in Indonesia, after Bali,” he said.
Meanwhile, head of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board, Pontjo Sutowo said, Makassar was chosen as venue for TIME 2008 because of its fast development of infrastructure.
The same event in 2006 was also held in the city.
Makassar as a gate to enter KTI has an international airport which serve 23 flights per day, including direct flight from Kuala Lumpur with Air Asia.
As many as 104 buyers from 21 countries and 108 sellers from 16 provinces in Indonesia has confirmed to take part in the event.
“But according to our latest data, there are 80 buyers and 95 sellers,” head of the Culture and Tourism Office, Ama Saing said. (*)
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Source: ANTARA News
October 16th, 2008