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Ministry takes French tour operators, travel agents to explore Sumatra
In an effort to introduce a wide range of beautiful tourist attractions in Indonesia, the Tourism Ministry is holding a familiarization trip from April 10 to 17 for French tour operators and travel agents to North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Belitung.
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Lake Toba's breathtaking scenery from the highlands. (Shutterstock/-)
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n an effort to introduce a wide range of beautiful tourist attractions in Indonesia, the Tourism Ministry is holding a familiarization trip (famtrip) from April 10 to 17 for French tour operators and travel agents (TO/TA) to North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Belitung.
“Hopefully the famtrip to Sumatra will inspire participants to create tour packages to Lake Toba, Bukittinggi and Belitung. These participants have been selling tour packages to Indonesia, but usually the destinations are only Bali and Lombok," said I Gde Pitana, deputy of overseas tourism development at the ministry.
The famtrip participants, consisting of five TO/TA members, arrived at Silangit Airport in North Sumatra, then headed straight to Lake Toba. Included in the itinerary was a visit to Panatapan Huta Gunjang, a tourist destination in Dolok Martumbur village, Muara district, only 15 minutes from the airport.
Read also: 2017 Lake Toba tourism calendar released
The Panatapan Huta Gunjang is home to Bukit Doa (Prayer Hill), a landmark of Muara district famous for its praying hands statue. The trip then continued to the T. B. Silalahi Center museum and Batak Balige museum. Balige is the capital city of Toba Samosir (Tobasa) regency where people can marvel at the panoramic view of Lake Toba.
From Tobasa, the participants then visited DR Il Nommensen’s tomb located only 12 kilometers from the city center. Nommensen was a German missionary who is considered a hero by the Batak people.
After two days spent visiting tourist attractions in North Sumatra, the group will travel to Padang and then Bukittinggi to see places like Ngarai Sihanok, Pandai Sikek and Pagaruyung castle. The day after, they will return to Padang for a table-top event with the city's tourist agency.
Last year there was a 20 percent increase, to 250,921, in French tourists visiting Indonesia. This year, the government has set a target of attracting 330,000 French visitors as part of its main goal of welcoming 15 million tourists to Indonesia by 2017. (kes)
