VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - Voinews: Indonesia through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has the honor of being the host of the "ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023" which will be held in the Special Region of Yogyakarta on 2 – 5 February 2023. Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno/ in The Weekly Brief With Sandi Uno, Monday (30/1) in Jakarta, said ATF is the biggest annual tourism agenda in the ASEAN region. According to him, at ATF 2023, Indonesia will bring back tourism based on conservation and education.

"We hope that here we will kick off conservation and education-based tourism again by being able to provide 1,000 to 1,200 tourists with a special package, namely an education and conservation package with upanat sandals that can climb the temple building, this is what we will be carrying out," said Sandiaga.

Sandiaga Uno further said that Indonesia has consistently fought for ASEAN countries and other countries to contribute to increasing the ASEAN tourism market. According to him, in ATF 2023, Indonesia is ready to compete and collaborate with all parties.

ATF 2023 is expected to be a trigger for accelerating the post-pandemic recovery of ASEAN tourism. A total of 157 booths and 308 delegations of B2B participants and 136 buyers from 29 countries in the Travex program can have an economic impact of over US$100 million for Indonesian tourism.

ATF 2023 held a series of agendas. Starting from the meeting of state delegations at both the Ministerial and NTO (National Tourism Organization) levels, and also the Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) which is a business forum for tourism businesses between ASEAN countries.

There will also be additional activities such as the Minister's Breakfast Meeting handled by US-ABC, Minister Business Luncheon held by CNN, Lao Night as the next leadership delegation event to Laos, post-meeting tour for VIP delegates, ASEAN Awarding Ceremony, to Global Modest Fashion Week.

Participants in the delegation meeting at the ATF were not only attended by ASEAN countries. But also several partner countries such as ASEAN Plus Three (Japan, Korea, China), India, Russia, and several other international organizations such as UNWTO, PATA, WTTC, ASEANTA, and US-ABC.

The theme for the ATF this time is “ASEAN: A Journey to Wonderful Destinations”. This theme represents the main hope of the tourism sector in developing major regional and international tourist destinations. As well as strengthening ASEAN's position as an accelerator of economic growth and job creation. (VOI/Thiodor)