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Indonesia courting business deals at ASEAN tourism exhibition in Brunei
Around 123 million international arrivals were recorded in 2019 at all international airports in Southeast Asia, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year.
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Visitors enjoy traditional food and beverages at Indonesia's booth at ASEAN Tourism Forum's Travel Exchange in Brunei Darussalam on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2020. (JP/Riza Roidila Mufti)
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ndonesia is seeking business deals at a regional travel exhibition held in Brunei Darussalam as the country focuses on tourism to help drive economic growth.
Indonesian tourism players along with the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry are taking part in the Travel Exchange (Travex) travel exhibition held from Tuesday to Thursday at the Bridex Exhibition Hall, Jerudong, as part of the region’s biggest annual tourism event: the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF).
In the three-day exhibition, industry players will have business-to-business meetings with about 143 potential buyers from travel agencies and tour operators from 43 countries around the world.
“We’re targeting as much as transaction possible in this year Travex. Last year, we made a lot of transactions,” said the ministry's division head of Promotion Area III (covering Kalimantan, Sabah, Serawak, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam), Sapto Harjono, in Jerudong on Tuesday.
During the 2019 Travex, Indonesia took home US$8.21 million for 60,316 tourism products, ranging from tour packages to hotel bookings. There were, in addition, 658 business-to-business meetings held during last year’s exhibition.
The government has set its sights on tourism to help boost the economy amid cooling investment and falling exports. It has named five super-priority tourism destinations to be developed as the “new Balis” to attract more international tourists.
The Tourism Ministry has also allocated Rp 9.3 trillion ($656.8 million) until 2020 to finance basic infrastructure development at the destinations, which are Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Borobudur temple in Central Java, Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) and Likupang in North Sulawesi.
