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INDONESIA promotes five super priority destinations, namely Lake Toba (North Sumatra), Borobudur (Central Java), Mandalika (NTB), Labuan Bajo (NTT), Likupang (North Sulawesi) at the Borsa Internazionale del Turismo (BIT) 2020 tourism exhibition held in Fieramilanocity, Milan, Italy, for three days on 9-11 February 2020.
According to the Counselor of the Indonesian Embassy in the Republic of Indonesia, Danang Waskito said to capture the Italian market and the global market, there are 11 Indonesian tourism industries consisting of six travel agents/tour operators (TA/TO), two Destination Management Companies (DMC) and three hotels/resorts of four provinces namely West Papua, Bali and East Nusa Tenggara, and Jakarta participated in the exhibition.
The Indonesian Pavilion occupies an area of 80 m2 and displays the symbol of the Phinisi ship carrying the theme of an island nation and a maritime nation. The Indonesian Pavillions showcases the beauty of tourist destinations in Jakarta, Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, Central Kalimantan and South Sulawesi. While Jakarta and Bali have become one of the main destinations of Italian tourists.
The Undersecretary of State of the Italian Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities, Lorenza Bonaccorsise, the opportunity to visit the Indonesian Pavilion was welcomed by the Indonesian Ambassador in Rome Esti Andayani accompanied by Hari Ristanto from Kemenparekraf.
“Vieni visitare meravigliosa Indonesia, let’s visit beautiful Indonesia,” Ambassador Esti Andayani told Pavillun visitors. He conveyed Indonesia’s participation in BIT Milano 2020 in line with the commitment of Indonesia and Italy to encourage closer cooperation in various fields, especially tourism. He also invited visitors to enjoy various events and activities held at the Indonesian Pavilion.
During the exhibition various activities were performed including traditional dances, showcasing and parade of traditional costumes, treats of Indonesian coffee from seven regions and the art of painting henna with Indonesian ethnic motifs.
Other activities held at the Indonesian Pavilion include facilitation of B2B (Business to Business) meetings, meetings with travel bloggers, meetings with the media, tourism information services and other activities.
Meanwhile, Danielle, a Sicilian visitor, conveyed his impression of the Indonesian pavilion “The Indonesian coffee that I enjoy is delicious, like Italian coffee.”
In line with this, Silvia, a visitor from Turin stated that the Indonesian Pavilion looks beautiful. “I like the henna painting on my hands.”
She also stated that she had never been to Indonesia, but was sure Indonesia had many beautiful places that made him want to visit Indonesia.
Italy is one of the potential markets in Europe for Indonesian tourism with an increasing trend of Italian tourist arrivals. At present, Italy is the sixth largest contributor of European tourists to Indonesia, with a total of 94,288 tourists in 2018, an increase of 4.73% compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, BIT Milano is the largest tourism exhibition in Italy which is participated by various countries with visitors not only Italian citizens, but also from European and even American countries. This BIT tourism exhibition has been held since 1980.
In BIT Milano in 2019, there were 1,300 participants with buyers from 67 countries, 1,900 press operators and 43,000 visitors during the three-day exhibition. Indonesia’s participation in the exhibition last year recorded a transaction value of more than US$3.5 million. [antaranews]
