The Jakarta city government is expanding its business events marketing efforts by creating a bid fund to bring events to the city, and actively participating in international tradeshows.
For instance, the Jakarta Provincial Government participated in IMEX Frankfurt and IT&CM Asia tradeshows as a standalone exhibitor to highlight its fresh offerings.
Hari Wibowo, head of marketing & attraction of the Jakarta Tourism & Creative Economy Office, shared with TTGmice: “Jakarta has been actively developing MICE facilities and infrastructure (over the last few years). We have a new Jakarta International Stadium with a total capacity of up to 82,000. We have parks that can take outdoor events, and new event spaces like the Candi Bentar Hall in Ancol.
“Planners can also host their events on the islands (in northern Jakarta) as some resorts in Pulau Seribu are now open for business events. Pantara Island, for example, has hosted a number of international meetings.”
Other new infrastructure includes toll roads connecting the city to surrounding provinces, as well as the further development of the LRT and MRT networks.
The city government has also set a budget of 10 billion rupiah (US$676,000) to support event organisers to bid for and host events.
“We encourage MICE players to create and bring events to Jakarta. We provide financial support such as bidding for events, hosting dinners, as well as subsidising venues,” he said.
An independent Curating Board – comprising of the Creative Economic and Jakarta Art Council committees – has been set up to assess and decide on the value of support.
“We invite MICE players to submit their proposals, which the board will decide upon,” Hari encouraged.
Earlier in August, Jakarta hosted the Urban 20 Mayors Summit as part of the G20 Indonesia Presidency, and will soon host the 33rd International Publishers Association World Congress on November 10-12.
Ghufron, assistant director of Convention Services, Jakarta Convention Center, welcomed the initiatives and stressed that it was important to market and promote Jakarta to help the industry recover quicker.
He added that it is imperative for the government to be present at international B2B tradeshows to raise its profile on the world stage.
