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SUPPORTING by the Indonesian Government to the Global Tourism Forum (GTF) 2021 event which was held recently is one form of efforts to revive the Indonesian Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) sector in this new habits era.
According to Sapta Nirwandar, the Chairman of the Indonesia Tourism Forum and the organizers of the 2021 GTF, recently said that the 2021 GTF event should be used as an initial step in the implementation of MICE activities, especially large events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason is, the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped large national and international events.
“Hopefully this will be a start for us so that there will be more big events in Indonesia. Holding a hybrid model is also good with 25 to 50% capacity because all of that can revive MICE in the present,” said Sapta.
In this spirit, the new 2021 GTF event also received support from tourism associations who have been feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Sapta, there were 18 associations involved in this event, such as PHRI, MASATA, representatives of travel agents, JTF, INACA, to ASPERAPI (Association of Indonesian Exhibition Companies).
“The most ambitious thing here is ASPERAPI because they haven’t had any events, especially exhibitions for a long time,” Sapta added.
The magnitude of the desire to restore the MICE sector is based on the multiplier effect generated when holding an event. MICE activities can create and invite many people to do tourism in the area. That way, MICE have a big economic impact for a country.
“Hopefully, the success of reducing the positive number of COVID-19 in Indonesia can be good news for all of us. The reduction in COVID-19 cases is also a success for the Indonesian government,” Sapta underlined.
This success will also determine whether Indonesia can hold other MICE activities that were previously planned. There are several events that have been scheduled, namely the G20 forum, ASEAN tourism, the APEC tourism working group, to the World Conference on the Creative Economy.
“In that context, are we ready to take more collaborative action with the World Tourism Forum Institute and its network. The goal is for the revival of the tourism industry and a stronger economy,” concluded Sapta Nirwandar. [traveltext.id]
