Indonesia will promote seven destinations as choice locations for the international meetings industry, as part of revamped government efforts to capitalise on the business events sector.
It was revealed to TTGmice at AIME that Jakarta and its surroundings will be promoted for conference and exhibition events; Bali for conference and incentive travel; while Yogyakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar will be promoted for corporate meetings and incentives.
The new strategy will also provide more follow-up support during the bidding stage, and produce targeted promotional materials useful to potential clients.
“This strategy is our restart,” said Adella Raung, director for promotions of special interest with Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy. “The Indonesian tourism ministry has always come to AIME but we were not really focused on our goals for MICE.”
“We are now collaborating with partners like community groups, universities and local industries – such as the health sector – to work with business events. A big market seems to be in university conferences. For example in September, we will welcome the second AOGS-EGU Joint Conference on New Dimensions for Natural Hazards in Asia, to a hotel facing Mount Merapi, which is still an active volcano,” she elaborated.
Adella added there are many potential speciality areas that would appeal to research conferences, such as tsunami studies or mining.
Indonesia revived its directorate in November last year, placing business events at the forefront of the country’s tourism policy as a priority under Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Wishnutama Kusubandio.
