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Tourism Ministry holds North Sumatra Tourism Development seminar
North Sumatra is located in Strait of Malacca that is close to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.
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Paddy field, ready to harvest, at North Sumatra. (Shutterstock/File)
The Tourism Ministry conducted a seminar called North Sumatra Tourism Development at Aryaduta Hotel, Medan on Nov. 25.
The seminar talked about improving the economy through tourism.
“We are lucky to have Tourism Minster Arief Yahya because he knows very well about the capabilities of tourism in Indonesia. He doesn’t just focus on developing Bali but also creating 10 New Balis from other regions,” said Member of the Commission X of DPR RI Sofyan Tan.
Sofyan moreover said that geographically speaking, North Sumatra is located in Strait of Malacca that is close to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Infrastructure development acceleration is the key point for North Sumatra, especially for its port, airport and highway.
“Development of supporting infrastructures such as hotel, restaurant, tourist attraction and human resources need to be done in North Sumatra,” said Sofyan.
Currently, North Sumatra has 10 national strategic projects, one of them is speeding up the infrastructure development of transportation, electricity and clean water for the national strategic tourism plan (KSPN) Lake Toba.
In August this year, Indonesia welcomed 1.35 million international tourists. The Tourism Ministry is aiming for 15 million overseas tourists by the end of 2017.
“The growth of tourism in Indonesia is very high, it has reached 22.4 percent in a year and listed in the top 20 in the world. To become a world-class destination, we are going to use the global standard, especially in attraction, accommodation, and accessibility. For attraction, we have advantages in nature, culture and manmade,” Sofyan explained.
Tourism Ministry is pushing for North Sumatra and Lake Toba to become an icon in tourism, thus they are developing nature, cultural, sport and MICE (Meeting Incentive Conference & Exhibition) tourisms in North Sumatra.
“Lake Toba is a tourist attraction that has been known for a long time, so it's relatively easier to develop the natural, cultural and MICE tourism there,” told Tourism Ministry’s deputy assistant for government and business market development, Tazbir. (asw)
