Indofest is the biggest Indonesian event in South Australia that is held annually by the community of Indonesian people in Adelaide, this year marks the 10^th anniversary of this event.

With the theme of “Kampung Indonesia” (Indonesian Village), this year’s Indofest will highlight the nation’s official motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).

Visitors can expect to see music and dance performances, food stalls, interactive workshops on Indonesia and cooking demos at the event.

This festival will also promote Wonderful Indonesia tourist destinations through social media.

“Indofest is the only sustainable festival in Australia. This year’s Indofest coincides with the 10^th anniversary of the event and it has gained full support from the Australian government, especially from South Australia, and the Indonesian embassy. It is estimated that there will be 10,000 people who are going to come to Indofest,” explained tourism ministry's deputy minister for overseas promotion, I Gde Pitana.

“Visitors will feel the atmosphere of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Papua [islands] from these booths,” added the ministry's deputy assistant for Asia-Pacific tourism promotion, Vinsensius Jemadu.

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Meanwhile, the ministry’s Wonderful Indonesia brand is going to have its own booth that will serve as the information center for Indonesian tourism.

Tourism minister Arief Yahya explained that the number of Australian tourists coming to Indonesia has been increasing quite well, from 2015 to 2016 the increase was at 14 percent.

“Bali is still the biggest market but tourism ministry is also introducing other interesting destinations. The good news is, 60 percent of Australian tourists are repeat visitors, meaning that they have at least went to Indonesia once, had a good experience here and would like to come back again,” told Arief.

Arief said that there needs to be a relationship improvement with airlines through joint promotions and an incentive to open new routes to other destinations besides Bali and Jakarta.

“Creating the 10 New Balis is the government’s effort to develop other destinations outside Bali. As it gets easier to invest in Indonesia, investors and businessmen from Australia can invest in the tourism sector by partnering up with an Indonesian counterpart,” added Arief. (asw)

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