VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Listener, Niantic, Inc. as the developer of the mobile game Pokémon GO, along with The Pokémon Company (TPC), the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, and Garuda Indonesia, are holding a series of exciting activities in the Pokémon Air Adventure collaboration. One of these is Pikachu's Indonesia Journey and the launch of the first Indonesian edition of Pokémon, namely Pikachu wearing a Batik shirt. Pikachu's Indonesia Journey is the biggest Pokémon-themed joint synergy event held in Indonesia from March 2 to March 3, 2024, at Puputan Renon Field, Denpasar, Bali.This project arose from a conversation between Vice President of Emerging Markets Niantic, Inc. Omar Tellez and Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno at the 2022 Pokémon Festival. According to emerging Markets Head of Niantic, Inc., Refael Siregar, by attracting the interest of domestic and international tourists, this synergy aims to encourage the progress of the Indonesian tourism sector. Refael Siregal further stated that Indonesia is a meaningful market for Niantic, Inc., with a loyal community throughout the archipelago. So, Niantic, Inc. wants to appreciate Trainers by combining Indonesian cultural heritage into Pokémon GO. Pikachu's Indonesia Journey combines exciting adventures between the real and virtual worlds of Pokémon. Fans can enjoy various fun activities such as booths, games, a very special appearance from Pikachu, and other exciting events.During the event, Pokémon GO Trainers have many bonuses, access to Special Research and can catch special edition Pokémon, including Pikachu wearing a Batik shirt and Flying Pikachu, who can be seen floating around with balloons. These Pokémon will be available in the game for a limited time only. Apart from Pikachu's Indonesia Journey and Pikachu in Batik shirts, in the future, Pokémon Air Adventure will feature other programs, one of which is Garuda Indonesia's Pikachu Jet.

Visitors flocked into the Indonesian booth displayed at the Travel Expo, Norway's largest tourism exhibition which was held at the Telenor Arena in Oslo on January 13 and 14. The Travel Expo 2024 was visited by more than seven thousand potential tourists.Indonesian Ambassador to Norway, Teuku Faizasyah, through a press release from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Oslo, which was obtained by Antara on Monday (15/1), said that the participation of the Indonesian Embassy in Oslo in this Travel Expo was an effort to further increase the number of tourist visits from Norway to Indonesia.In this exhibition, the Indonesian Embassy also involved travel operators to directly offer tourism packages and promotions to prospective Norwegian tourists.At Travel Expo 2024, the Indonesian booth featured the theme "Escape the Winter". This theme was raised to take momentum from the increased trend of Norwegian people's holidays to tropical countries during the Winter holidays. Winter in Norway, which reaches minus 30 Celsius, makes Norwegians choose warmer tourism destinations.In this exhibition, Indonesia introduced its other tourism destinations, such as Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Sumatra, Lombok, North Sumatra and North Sulawesi.The exhibition was also enlivened by cultural performances of the Bona Jeges dance from North Sumatra and the ondel-ondel dance from Jakarta.Besides, Indonesia also provided typical Indonesian coffee, and there was also a performance of playing the Gambang musical instrument to further attract the attention of visitors.During the two-day exhibition, many visitors bought Indonesian tourism packages. Some of them chose to return to travel to Indonesia to explore Indonesia's unique tourism destinations.Based on Travel Expo data and Norwegian statistics, with a summer and winter holiday period of more than 30 days, Norwegian tourists are the type of tourists who have quite long tourist periods, namely more than 10 days. They also have quite high levels of tourism spending.The type of travel that is popular with prospective Norwegian tourists is unique tourism attractions that have high cultural value, including climbing and diving. In addition, Norwegian tourists also expect tourism destinations with good facilities and transportation.

The Environment & Forestry Ministry's Directorate for Watershed Management and Forest Rehabilitation is ready to continue tree planting simultaneously across Indonesia until April 2024.Minister of Environment & Forestry, Siti Nurbaya while accompanying Vice President Ma'ruf Amin to lead the simultaneous planting in Banten Province, Sunday, said that the tree planting was carried out as a concrete step to overcome climate change, restore the environment, and support the acceleration of forest and land rehabilitation. Regarding simultaneous planting in Banten, according to Minister Siti Nurbaya, this activity was a series of the simultaneous planting agenda which has been implemented since December 30, 2023, and will continue from February to April 2024 The planting locations consist of open areas, such as green open spaces, and land that needs to be restored, environmental areas or school grounds, public facility areas, and others. This activity is also expanded to keep planting at previous planting locations through the active participation of the community and related parties in all regions The tree seeds are types that suit local agro-climatic conditions, such as wood tree seeds, non-timber forest product (NTFP) producers, fruit, and multi-purpose tree species (MPTS) Minister Siti Nurbaya also revealed that the tree planting location in Banten Province is critical land which is the government's target for restoring environmental quality.She added that this activity is in accordance with the direction of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo to keep planting throughout the 2023-2024 rainy season. According to Minister Siti Nurbaya, trees have the ability to absorb carbon effectively enough to withstand the impacts of climate change. Meanwhile, tree planting activities are part of a commitment to reduce emissions from the forestry sector and other land uses. This is in accordance with national policies in the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to control climate change (Indonesia's FoLU Net Sink 2030).

Garut is not only well-known for its typical fruit, Garut Orange, but also popular for its stunning panoramic beach, namely Santolo Beach. This beach is located in Cikelet District, Garut Regency, West Java, Indonesia. Santolo Beach, which was originally a gathering place for fishermen, has been developed into a beautiful tourism destination. It is also an area for fishing activities as a dock for fishing boats in Pameungpeuk. Enjoying panoramic views of the beach and marine life is one of the tourist activities that can be explored.There are also boat rentals available that serve tourists to enjoy the beach's quite challenging southern waves. Besides, they can enjoy fresh seafood in the form of simple dishes. For logistics and accommodation, several facilities are available for tourists, such as guesthouses and souvenir stalls. Santolo Beach is situated at an altitude of 0-200 meters above sea level.In the past, Santolo Beach was known as Cilauteureun Beach. Europeans, especially the Dutch, who came to this region had difficulty pronouncing the name Cilauteureun. Then, Europeans pronounced the word, Cilauteureun with the word Santolo. Santolo Beach once functioned as a pier to transport spices to large ships in the middle of the sea during Dutch ruling. Therefore, the coastal area has many Dutch heritage buildings built around 1850.