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SOUTHEAST Asia Business Events Forum (SEABEF) in conjunction with Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Fair (WITF) 2024 as the largest annual conference and exhibition event in Indonesia is ready to be held at Swissôtel Jakarta Pantai Indah Kapuk (PIK), Jakarta on October 2-4, 2024.
According to Ministry’s Senior Expert Staff, Nia Niscaya in “The Weekly Brief with Sandi Uno” which took place in a hybrid manner, at the Sapta Pesona Building, Jakarta, Monday (09/30), 2024 explained that SEABEF in conjunction with WITF 2024 was initiated by the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI) and is fully supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Baparekraf.
SEABEF will discuss the key issues in the development of MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference, Exhibition) and business events in the ASEAN region and Indonesia in particular. Meanwhile, WITF will be a B2B exhibition between Indonesian sellers and potential buyers from abroad.
“This (SEABEF) is about answers to global issues. And then there is hope in the future to be bigger, part of the ASEAN Tourism Forum. Because it is a prestigious and high-level annual event where even ministers come,” said Nia Niscaya.
Meanwhile, the Director of Tourism, Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions at the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, Firnandi Gufron, explained that in the second SEABEF, it was held together with the Wonderful Indonesia Tourism Fair, after previously SEABEF was held together with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2023 in D.I. Yogyakarta.
“This time, SEABEF will be held from October 2 to 3, 2024 and WITF from October 2 to 4, 2024,” Firnandi affirmed.
Firnandi explained that the theme of SEABEF 2024 is “The Transformative Impact of Sustainability on The Business Event Industry”. The aim is to be in line with the global issues of BGCE (Blue, Green, Circular Economy) and sustainability.
Therefore, the main topics that will be discussed at SEABEF include technological transformation, sustainability and human resource development. Firnandi hopes that SEABEF can be included in the main agenda of ATF (ASEAN Tourism Forum) next year (2025).
“And in the near future, we hope that WITF can be on the same level as ITB Asia. We want to build a MICE ecosystem that is very conducive to the domestic industry. So, we hope that all these potentials can be maximized for Indonesia to become a world MICE destination,” Firnandi noted.
Likewise, the treasurer of the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), Pauline Suharno, added that the initiation of the WITF event began with the desire for Indonesia to have an international scale trade show so that sellers not only appear and participate in exhibitions abroad, but also operate domestically.
WITF 2024 will be attended by 195 buyers from 38 countries. Southeast Asia, India, China, Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa.
“Meanwhile, there are 150 sellers from all over Indonesia. Consisting of travel agents, tour operators, hotels, recreation parks, wellness providers, and transportation companies. So, all stakeholders in the tourism world who are members of GIPI become vendors,” Pauline concluded. [traveltext.id]
