“Slank is not only well known by the people by Atambua, people from Timor Leste also love them. I believe there will be plenty of people who will come over to Atambua,” said Belu tourism department head, Johanes Andes Prihatin.

“Together with the tourism ministry, we are going to send a promotional team to the neighboring country,” Johanes added.

Atambua has previously welcomed two equally famous rock bands Cokelat and Jamrud on August 28. Their performances managed to attract thousands of audience consisting of locals and people from Timor Leste.

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Cokelat’s vocalist Jackline Rossy said that music is a universal language that can be accepted by everyone, she agreed that music and tourism are two inseparable things.

The band’s guitarist Edwin Marshal added that countries such as Singapore have made music concert as one of their efforts to attract tourists.

“We are happy that the ministry is directly involved in this event, music isn’t just entertainment it’s also a media to attract tourists,” said Edwin.

Moreover, tourism minister Arief Yahya said that cross-border area is one of the most effective places to attract international tourists. With the presence of more than 25,000 people in every cross-border festival, it will give impact to the locals and investors will be interested to make an investment in the area.

He also predicted that there will be more access to be developed in cross-border areas, including transportation and cargo shipping.

“In tourism, every investment made will give 170 percent impact to the people around the area,” said Arief. (asw)

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