Indonesian event planners are upbeat that the number of business events in the country will continue its upward recovery trend in 2022, provided Covid-19 numbers in Indonesia manage to stay low.
This sentiment was echoed by Hosea Andreas Runkat, chairman of the Indonesian Exhibition Companies Association (IECA), who happily rectified his forecast which previously stated that the domestic exhibition sector in 2021 would be worse than 2020.
Out of the 64 in-person exhibitions that were scheduled for 2021, 42 managed to take place, thanks to the government’s relaxation of restrictions in early October.
This resumption of events have given event planners a ray of hope and a dose of optimism, who have begun to schedule exhibitions for this year, Andreas shared.
The fact that Indonesia is slated to host the G20 Summit this year, is cause for more optimism, Andreas enthused, because there will be around 100 other conferences and exhibitions, related to the summit, happening. Moreover, these business events will not be limited to one or two large cities, and instead, will be held in various destinations around the country.
He hopes that the government will help support more in-person events this year, so that by mid-2022, the number of in-person events will be much closer to 2019 levels. To date, virtual and hybrid events still dominate the industry, noted Andreas.
Iqbal Abdullah, chairman of Indonesia Congress and Convention Association (INCCA), agreed, and also petitioned the government to have the courage to hold more in-person events in 2022 and 2023, so that the business events industry can make a rebound before elections are held in 2024.
He stressed that that with the strict enforcement of health protocols in place, offline events can be held safely.
Elsewhere in the capital, Salman Anwar, chairman of Jakarta Tourism Forum, believes that upcoming international events in Jakarta, such as the Formula E electric motorsport championship in June, and International Publishers Congress in November, would be catalysts that will help revive Jakarta’s business events scene by mid-2022.
Salman further shared that the capital’s industry players are also petitioning governor Anies Baswedan to sign a gubernatorial regulation to stimulate the business events industry and support stakeholders at international biddings.
