VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Encouraging the promotion of Indonesian tourism in the United States, the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in San Francisco participated in the largest tourism exhibition in the U.S., "Travel & Adventure Show 2021" in Santa Clara Convention Center last weekends (23-24/10). The Indonesian booth was visited by more than 500 people from various backgrounds, such as tourism entrepreneurs, travel influencers and others. The Indonesian consulate cooperated with 2 travel agents to jointly promote Indonesian tourism: TREVI.co from Jakarta and Sayang Holidays from San Francisco. Indonesian outlets promoted various priority tourism destinations, such as Labuan Bajo, Mandalika, Wakatobi, West Nusa Tenggara, Morotai Island, North Maluku, Tanjung Kelayang, Bangka Belitung Islands, Toba Lake, North Sumatra, Southeast Sulawesi, Borobudur, Central Java, Seribu Islands, DKI Jakarta, Tanjung Lesung, Banten, Banten, Bromo , East Java, and East Nusa Tenggara.

Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia in San Francisco, Nugroho Y. Aribhimo said that through the exhibition which lasted for two days, his side recorded around 150 U.S. potential tourists who are interested in visiting Indonesia. Some of them have booked travel packages to Indonesia next year and they are waiting for a new policy from the Government of Indonesia regarding travel restrictions. It’s known that the total foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia in 2020 reached 4.02 million visits. Compared to 2019, the foreign tourists decreased by 75.03%.

 Americans tend to plan vacations one year before departure, and the marketing efforts at the Travel and Adventure Show 2021 are believed to be able to help encourage back the Indonesian tourism industry post-pandemic, especially to increase the number of foreign tourists in 2022.The U.S. Travel and Adventure Show is the largest travel show event in the U.S.A. There are over 10,000 visitors every year. The event aims to connect more than 2.1 million tourists with more than 4,500 travel agencies. During the exhibition, prominent figures, such as Josh Gates, Peter Greenberg, and Andrew also appeared on the seminar stages.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has appointed Ambassador Arrmanatha Christiawan Nasir as the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations and the International Seabed Authority based in New York, United States. The inauguration became a historic moment because Indonesia for the first time appointed a Permanent Representative for the International Seabed Authority.

The International Seabed Authority is an international organization established under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention.The organization is a forum for state parties to the convention to manage and supervise activities related to mineral resources contained in the International Seabed Area. This policy is in accordance with the principle of the Common Heritage for Humanity. The International Seabed Authority is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.

The appointment of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Indonesia for the International Seabed Authority refers to the Regulation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs No.4/2021 concerning the Fifth Amendment to the Decree of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2004 about the Organization and Work Procedure of the Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia abroad.  The Ministerial Regulation stipulates that The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York concurrently serves as the International Seabed Authority.

Reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in Jakarta last Tuesday October 26, the inauguration of Ambassador Nasir underlined Indonesia's commitment as a state party to the Law of the Sea Convention to participate in many activities in the International Seabed Area. One of them is the process of drafting various regulations of the International Seabed Authority related to the management of mineral resources in the International Seabed Area. So, it can be useful for all human beings.

After 19 years, Indonesia finally won the Thomas Cup after defeating China on Sunday (17/10). However, this victory was not exciting. During the ceremony, Indonesia's national flag was replaced with Indonesian Badminton Association's flag. This happened because of an issue between Indonesia and the World Anti-Doping Agency -WADA. The "flagless" punishment in every international event was imposed by WADA for IOC member countries that have problems with doping tests or the doping itself on the athletes.

On that matter, Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, Zainudin Amali, as President Joko Widodo's instruction to immediately solve this issue, has moved quickly by forming a special task force led by Raja Sapta Oktohari.

Raja Sapta, who is also Indonesian Olympics Committee Chairman said that he has opened communication with WADA to relieve the country's anti-doping agency LADI from the sanction. In opening the communication, Raja Sapta Oktohari met directly WADA's President, Witold Banka and Secretary General, Olivier Niggli at the Association of National Olympic Committee's General Assembly in Greece on Sunday (24/10).

From the meeting, Raja Sapta said that there are some obstacles in the communication between LADI and WADA. However, direct access for every LADI personnel to WADA's has been opened. So, the issue can be solved quickly. Also, the task force keeps pushing LADI to solve some 24 postponed issues. Raja Sapta also ensured that if all the requirements are fulfilled by LADI, Indonesia will regain her rights on sports events and can host another international championship again.

The issue of doping is a serious one for every athlete, since they are demanded to be honest in their achievements. Therefore, there should be more education for the athletes, medical team, and LADI officials. Besides, the cooperation with Japan in building an anti-doping lab needs to be finished soon so that Indonesia will not depend on anyone in doping testing the athletes in every championship.

If the situation is getting better and you can travel again, please come to Indonesia, there are various interesting tourism attractions and activities. For example, if you visit Boyolali City, Central Java, there is Indrokilo Botanical Garden. While recreation, you can get more insight about the variety of lowland rainforest plants here. This Botanical Garden is located in Kampung Tempurejo, Kemiri subdistrict, Mojosongo district, Boyolali regency. It takes about 10 minutes from Boyolali square to this tourist attraction. During this pandemic, Indrokilo is only open on weekdays, from 8 am to 4.30 pm. At the entrance, tourists get their body temperature checked. In fact, it is mandatory to have at least the first dose of vaccine. In the tourist area, tourists are required to wear masks and keep their distance.

Indrokilo Botanical was built on an area of 9.35 hectares. This botanical garden has more than 900 specimens of plant collections with 7 themes of plants. They are medicinal plants, ferns, conservation, labyrinth, bamboo, local fruit and honorary plants. The special thing about Indrokilo Botanical Garden is that there are seven icons that will later become the characteristics of this tourist attraction. There is Pasingsingan Gate. The gate with the 12-meter height and 25-meter width is inspired by the gates of Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall monument in Taipei. This gate is a welcome door into the Indrokilo Botanical Garden. Passing through the welcome door, you will see the statue of Sosro Birowo. The statue with a height of 17 meters is the closest icon to the entrance of Indrokilo Botanical Gardens. Sosro Birowo is a magic spell from a man named Mahesa Jenar. He is a former soldier guarding the king who is very tough and strong. Another icon is Taman Paku. Taman Paku is one of the thematic parks in Indrokilo Botanical Gardens. As the name implies, this park stores various collections of ferns (pterodophyta) which are divided into two, outdoor and indoor. In addition to increasing knowledge, at Taman Paku, you can also take pictures as much as you want. Besides Taman Paku, you can also visit labyrinth garden. When photographed from above using a drone, the shape of this park has the concept of Gunungan Wayang which symbolizes the unity of the Indonesian nation.

The next icon is a miniature of Niagara Falls in the United States. This waterfall is located on the west side of Indrokilo Botanical Garden with a height of seven meters and a width of 34 meters. The source of this artificial waterfall is Gandul and Sombo Rivers whose flow is dammed and the water is channeled through pipes to the upstream side of the cliff with a pump. There is also the management office of Indrokilo Botanical Garden. There is a building called EBU, which stands for Electronik Banyu Udan that has rainwater processing technology into ready-to-drink water. Don’t forget to visit the Pond Painting Feature too, a replica of Prophet Noah’s ark. According to the story of Prophet Noah, the plan is that the ark will be equipped with statues of several pairs of animals. The Indrokilo tourism management has also provided public facilities such as outbound game rides, free wifi, bathrooms and prayer rooms.