VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - Voinews: The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy launched the 'Kharisma Event Nusantara (KEN) 2023' program at the Keong Mas IMAX Theatre, Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Jakarta on Saturday (28/1/2023) by presenting quality regional events.

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno to Voice of Indonesia stated, in KEN 2023 there are extraordinary tourist attractions and creative economy. Apart from that, KEN 2023 also presents sporting events to attract more tourists.

"And this year we also added SPORTIF, namely Sports, Music and also Creative Events. And this adds to the repertoire of tourist attractions," said Sandiaga.

This year Kharisma Event Nusantara has again summarized 110 leading events which have been curated from 291 events proposed by Provincial Tourism Offices throughout Indonesia.

Unlike the previous year, the 2023 KEN curation is based on five areas of assessment, namely the Tourism and Creative Sector, the Innovation and Creativity Sector, the Event Management Sector, the Communication Strategy Sector, and the Business Development and Marketing Sector.

Menparekraf Sandiaga said that according to President Joko Widodo's directives that organizing events could become a locomotive or driving force for the regional economy and the revival of Indonesian tourism.

"KEN 2023 is able to encourage regional revival, I see from every event from Sabang to Merauke, all of them are able to move the regional economy, starting from cultural events, sporting events, to events related to festivals. I also see that we can do the key to economic revival if these events are carried out with a higher quality," said Menparekraf Sandiaga.

The launch of KEN 2023 presents a festival that can be visited by the public at Plaza Keong Mas. There are six interactive activation areas, the result of collaboration with regions, associations, and communities that will provide memorable experiences to visitors through artistic installations, art and photo galleries 110 KEN 2023, art and cultural performances, experience "mini events", craft workshops and cooking demonstrations , recycling works, exhibitions of MSME products (Food, Craft, Wastra), and various inspirations for holding events in various other regions.

Menparekraf Sandiaga, explained that the holding of regional events also benefited MSMEs. For example, in 2022, through the KEN program, it is recorded that holding regional events has had an impact on more than 3,000,000 tourist movements involving more than 11,000 MSMEs.

In its implementation, KEN has also opened up employment opportunities and absorbed 55,000 artists/events, 11,000 workers, and 250 associations/communities. Collaboration and resilience that should be appreciated from the Central Government, Regional Governments, Associations, Communities, and other event industry stakeholders.

President Joko Widodo, in his statement, said that the government had just launched the National Movement to Be Proud of Traveling in Indonesia Aja to invite more people to travel in Indonesia within the country and boost the growth of domestic tourists by up to two times more.

"In 2023 there will be 110 Karisma Nusantara Events, and 65 Sport Music and Creative Events which will become a magnet to attract domestic and foreign tourists to enjoy Indonesian tourism. These unique events with a sustainable spirit will be a good promotion to improve the image of this tourism in the eyes of domestic and foreign tourists," said President Joko Widodo.

President Jokowi also believes that with the improvement of tourism facilities and infrastructure, ease of transportation, connectivity, readiness of human resources, and accommodation, the tourism sector and the creative economy will rise and recover stronger. (VOI/Thiodor)