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vent organizer PT Dyandra Media International (DMI), a subsidiary of the country’s printing and publishing giant Kompas Gramedia Group, says it will spend over Rp 2.5 trillion (US$257.5 million) this year to tap into the growth of the meeting, incentives, convention, exhibition (MICE) industry in Indonesia.

DMI operational director Danny Budiharto said the investment would be used to expand its Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC) and construct new convention halls in Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD City) of South Tangerang, Banten, and in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The company also plans to build four hotels, both in the upscale category under the Santika Premiere brand and in the budget sector under Amaris brand, in 2013.

“Indonesia is like a sexy lady who attracts those around her. We invest a lot in new convention halls and hotels because this infrastructure will help us to better tap into the growing MICE sector,” Danny said.

He said DMI added 25,000 square-meters to the existing BNDCC in order to accommodate more people during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings this year.

The renovation project is scheduled to be completed in July.

He said that the expansion project would enable the Bali convention hall to accommodate up to 10,000 people a day while the Indonesia International Expo in BSD City was going to be the country’s largest venue with a capacity of 150,000 people. The new convention hall is projected to be completed in mid 2014.

Jakarta currently only has the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) and the JIExpo Kemayoran that can accommodate less than 50,000 people each.

Other places in Asia, like Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, have convention centers that can hold up to more than 100,000 people, making their destinations more attractive for big international events.

“We also plan to expand our MICE business in the eastern parts of Indonesia by entering Makassar. We plan to start the construction of our new convention hall in the city next month,” he said, adding that the venue would be able to accommodate 6,000 people.

For the hotels, he said that a Santika Premiere and an Amaris hotel would be built in Bali and two more Amaris hotels are going to be opened in Jakarta and Cikarang, West Java.

Dyandra plans to set up joint venture companies with the world’s second-largest event organizer UBM and leading British event organizer Tarsus to expand its exhibition business. The joint venture is expected to begin in the second semester of 2013.

“We plan to organize a big jewelry exhibition and a new motor show in Jakarta this year with this joint venture,” he said, adding that the auto show would be different from the Indonesia International Motor Show, the largest automotive event in Southeast Asia, which his company organizes annually.

The firm expects to increase its revenues from the exhibition sector by 20 percent to Rp 720 billion this year.