T

he Indonesian Congress and Convention Association (INCCA) and tourism stakeholders in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) are set to host the Mount Tambora Trail Adventure to promote the Mount Tambora volcano.

Slated for Sept. 7 and 8 on Sumbawa Island, the event will also promote 2015 Tambora Greets the World as well as the island itself.

'€œWe have invited participants from all provinces to take part in the event. So far, around 400 participants and still counting have registered for the Mount Tambora Trail Adventure,'€ NTB INCCA head M. Nurhaedin told The Jakarta Post in Mataram on Wednesday.

Besides challenging trekkers, the event'€™s route also offered a lot of natural and beautiful panoramic views, he added.

The route will cross several villages on the slope of Mt. Tambora, which is located in Dompu and Bima regencies.

Following the success of bringing in 1 million visitors in 2012 through the 2009 Visit Lombok Sumbawa program, the NTB provincial administration is currently targeting to increase tourist arrivals to 2 million annually by 2015.

NTB Tourism and Culture Agency head Muhammad Nasir said the target would be backed by the 2015 Tambora Greets the World program.

In 1815, Mt. Tambora experienced one of the biggest recorded eruptions in history. Based on several historical records, the eruption impacted climate change in Europe at that time.

'€œThe 200th anniversary of the Mt. Tambora eruption will be packaged and organized by the NTB provincial administration and tour operators to draw foreign as well as domestic visitors,'€ said Nasir.

Nasir added that the development of the tourism sector in NTB was currently quite significant, especially since Lombok International Airport (BIL) in Central Lombok started operating in October 2011. BIL serves overseas flights from Malaysia and Singapore while flights from Australia will start later this year.

Since tourists were already familiar with Lombok Island, future tourism development would focus on Sumbawa Island, Nasir said.