Date: 19/8/04 www.pasarwisata.com
Yogyakarta is getting ready to welcome the annual Indonesian tourism show, Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) also known as Pasar Wisata Indonesia 2004. This year’s TIME will be held at the Jogja Expo Centre (JEC) from 26 - 29 September 2004. This tourism event has been held for ten years now, organized by the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board (ITPB) with support from the entire tourism industry in Indonesia.
Chairperson of TIME 2004 Steering Committee, Mrs. Meity Robot, said,:Since its first conduct in 1994 in Jakarta, TIME has been organized to show our commitment to support our efforts to maintain Indonesia's image in the international market place. After being held in Jakarta for 10 years, the change of venue is aimed to lift Indonesian's struggling industry, which has been crippled by various setbacks which occurred in late 2002 and early-to-mid 2003: Bali bombing, SARS outbreak, Iraq War, and the terror attack at the upscale Marriott hotel in Jakarta last year August. One cannot deny that the world tragedy has an effect on our tourism industry. But, Indonesia's tourism industry is gradually picking up and this needs to be supported.
Meity added that the present condition stimulates new breakthroughs to encourage Indonesia's tourism industry to be more active in making efforts to attract global tourists, particularly in projecting the image of Indonesia as a safe place to visit. Such efforts will add to the country's competitiveness towards global challenges?TIME is a momentum for continuing our efforts to promote the destination to aid in the recovery,she continued.
To achieve a maximum number of buyers attending the event, TIME 2004 is held closely with the PATA Travel Mart in Thailand on 22 - 24 September 2004 so that buyers could continue their trip to Indonesia after attending the PATA Mart. In addition to this, Indonesia's General Election session is over, Meity explained. Meity also added that besides promoting Indonesia's tourism industry to the worldwide market, the conduct of TIME 2004 is also aimed at putting Yogyakarta and Central Java more firmly on the tourist map as the region possesses sound infrastructure and facilities of the same level with Bali and Jakarta. Presently Yogyakarta has two international direct flights, from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Singapore. The direct Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to/from Yogyakarta service could attract inbound traffic to the region, Meity continued.
TIME is an event for buyers from overseas and Indonesian sellers from various travel and tourism sectors, including hotels, resorts, spas, airlines, National Tourism Offices (NTO), travel agencies, cruise liner operators, golf operators, and many more. As Indonesia's prime travel show, TIME 2004 accommodates the interests of those who sell Indonesia's tourism products and services to international markets. The event will feature most of Indonesia's tourist attractions, which include all popular tourist destinations, top tourist facilities available in the country as well as development of new products. TIME is already included in the tourism international events calendar, together with ITB Berlin, WTM London, and ATM Dubai. TIME 2004 is supported by the entire travel and tourism industry in Indonesia, including the Ministry for Culture and Tourism, Yogyakarta Provincial Government, Yogyakarta Tourism Board, Garuda Indonesia, international air carriers operating to/from Indonesia, INACA (Indonesia National Air Carriers Association), ASITA (Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies), PHRI (Indonesia Hotels & Restaurants Association), Casa Grande (Yogyakarta Hotel Association), and Pacto Convex as event organizer?, Meity said. Despite the global security issue, last year TIME 2003 was attended by 100 buyers from 25 countries mostly from Taiwan, the Netherlands, USA, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Indonesia. The event attracted 101 sellers from 17 provinces of Indonesia, dominated by the hotel industry 52% from the total sellers and followed by tour operators/travel agents 24%, NTOs 17%, airlines 5%, and golf operators 1%. Whereas, TIME 2002 attracted 161 sellers from 16 provinces and 109 buyers from 28 countries. Meity emphasized that the main objective of last year?s TIME was aimed at convincing buyers of the conducive situation of Indonesia. We are optimistic that participants of TIME 2004 will increase looking at a better situation this year, Meity concluded. |