Business events stable in aftermath of Surabaya blast

Setiabudi:

The business events industry in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second biggest business city after Jakarta, reported minimum impact on business following bomb blast on May 13.

Effi Setiabudi, chairman of the Indonesian Exhibition Companies Association (ASPERAPI), told TTGmice: “We see no impact on the exhibition business. There were no B2B exhibitions when the blast took place, save for a couple of consumer shows.”

Setiabudi: bombings no impact on MICE business

Herry Siswanto, chairman of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Associations (IHRA) East Java chapter, said: “For two days (May 13-14), six hotels had reported 10 FIT cancellations. But for business events, there was none. It was probably because the incident took place on Sunday, when there were not many business activities. Having said that, there were also no cancellations on the following Monday, so all’s normal.”

Budiono, director of Debindo Mitra Tama, told TTGmice that the company had two consumer exhibitions during the weekend of the tragedy – Hasanah Griya Expo 2018 and Batik Bordir & Aksesoris 2018, both at the Grand City Mall Surabaya.

To calm “panicking exhibitors, some of whom were ready to close their booths”, Budiono said his team worked with the local police to ensure the safety of exhibition participants.

While the shows went on, Budiono said visitorship was “below our expectation”.

He expects numbers to return to normal for his next exhibition in August.

“The security force was quite swift in its response. The East Java governor and mayor of Surabaya also gave their assurance to companies that the situation in Surabaya is safe. The steps taken by the government are appropriate and wise enough (to win back the confidence of businessmen,” he concluded.

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