VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno and the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) delegations visited the Travel Expo at the Jogjakarta Expo Center (JEC) on Saturday evening.

"I invited Madame Garcia (Secretary of the Philippines' Department of Tourism Christina Garcia Fasco) to see firsthand the enthusiasm and potential for the revival of our tourism," Uno said in a press release received here Sunday.

Uno said that the enthusiasm of sellers and buyers was quite high when the best tourism and creative economy products were showcased.

As a result, the destinations and centers of creative economy in the country which are starting to improve can be exposed to show the revival of Indonesia's tourism that has an impact on society.

"It has an impact on business opportunities and employment, especially for MSMEs," he said.

The ATF 2023 Exhibition, which is part of this year's ATF Meeting, is divided into two main events. They are "Travel Exchange" (Travex) and Indonesian Tourism, MSMEs Creative Economy, and Culinary Festivals.

Travex which takes place on 3-5 February 2023 is a "business to business" (B2B) forum for tourism business actors from ASEAN member countries.

Among the participants were those from the ASEAN NTOs, ASEAN Tourism Industries, Travel and Tourism Hospitality Industries, hotels & accommodation industries, TA/TO, as well as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) actors.

Meanwhile, the "business to customer" (B2C) program was filled with the promotion of Indonesian Tourism, MSMEs of the creative economy sector, and Culinary Festivals. 

 More than 160 MSMEs, local governments, and the tourism industry from various regions in the country joined the activity that took place on 2-5 February 2023.

Uno said the B2B exhibition (Travex) was attended by 10 ASEAN member countries plus Russia, India, China, Japan, and South Korea involving 207 companies and 115 international sellers and exhibitors.

Uno said the transaction target that had been set for these two activities could be achieved.

"For B2B, the total transactions are still being calculated, but for B2C the target is Rp5 billion and since the exhibition was.opened (2/2/2023), the total transaction value has been reported to reach over Rp3 billion," he said.

In addition, Uno, who is also the Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency, hoped that the exhibition could encourage innovation in the country.

"Hopefully, we can achieve the target that shows ASEAN as a 'wonderful destination'," he said.

Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Ni Wayan Giri Adnyani, Deputy for Tourism Products and Event Organizers for the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Vinsensius Jemadu were seen attending the event. (antaranews)