Race is On to Achieve 1 Million Visits

Tourism Chiefs Unite in Vision and Effort

TOURISM and other leaders from throughout West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) met in March to consolidate their efforts and review progress towards bringing one million visitors to the province this year.

NTB’s Culture and Tourism department (Disbudpar) is the lead agency responsible for achieving the one million target of the Visit Lombok Sumbawa 2012 flagship campaign.

Figures for 2011 released in February showed an 18.2 percent increase in arrivals – to 886,880 – over numbers for 2010. A similar increase this year would put NTB tourist numbers well over the million-mark.

Disbudpar head Gita Aryadi opened the coordinating meeting which was attended by Culture and Tourism leaders from the province’s eight districts and two cities; and provincial leaders representing Transport and Communications; Regional Planning; and Investment.

Airports operator PT Angkasa Pura also attended along with cultural specialists, tourism operators and media.

The meeting aimed to integrate 2012 tourism promotion and development programs across the province and with national efforts, and to evaluate the success of programs implemented in 2011, said Gita.

The meeting would ensure that all participants directly involved in the development of NTB tourism and culture shared a common vision that would support the Visit Lombok Sumbawa campaign, he said.

“By working together in this way we are giving ourselves the best possible opportunity of achieving our target of one million tourists.”

Throughout 2012, the NTB administration is building and improving a wide range of infrastructure and support facilities, especially at tourism destinations, to enhance the visitor experience.

As well, there is a full calendar of tourism promotion activities and events both within Indonesia and internationally.

NTB will participate in national exhibitions including the Majapahit Travel Fair (MTF) in Surabaya from 10 to 13 May; Surabaya Great Expo 16-10 May; Indonesian Tourism and Culture Expo (Gebyar Wisata & Budaya Nusantara) in Jakarta 31 May-3 June; and a direct promotion in Surabaya yet to be scheduled.

NTB will be well represented at major events in Mataram including the Lombok Sumbawa Expo 14-19 May; the NTB Expo in June; Indonesian Tourism and Creative Products Expo (Parekraf) 27-30 September; the NTB TITex trade, investment and tourism expo 7-11 November; and the Lombok Inafact tabletop promotion 1-4 November.

Lombok and Sumbawa will take their message to the Gelar Wisata & Budaya Indonesia tourism and culture event in Batam 9-12 November; the Kemilau Nusantara national promotion in Bogor in October; a direct promotion in Bali; and to the Indonesia Tourism and Travel Mart in Jakarta in November.

NTB also received exposure through the 2012 Lombok Audax international cycling event at the end of March.

Internationally, the province will be promoted at the Enchanting Indonesia event in Singapore in May; at the Arabian Travel Mart in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia; at the MATTA tour and travel fair in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and at a major global travel fair in London, UK.

In the first half of 2012, NTB promotional campaigns were scheduled in travel magazines and on Megatron TV, and billboards were erected to promote the Visit Lombok Sumbawa program.

Brochures and leaflets were produced in Indonesian, English, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. An events calendar was published and souvenirs were produced.

The tourism program will be promoted at the 2012 Lombok Sumbawa Pearl Festival in June and awards will be presented to major supporters of the campaign at an Appreciation Night in December.

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