In an effort to prepare for the upcoming natural phenomenon, Minister Ramli on Monday held a meeting with Tourism Minister Arief Yahya and governments of the regions that fall within the footprint of the eclipse.
"It is a very rare phenomenon which will last for only two minutes. If we can catch the tourists imagination with good promotional efforts and are able to underline how rare is this event, tourists will surely visit with enthusiasm and happiness," the minister pointed out.
According to him, the phenomenon which is said to be happening in Indonesia after 350 years, should witness a number of scientific, educational, and tourism activities.
The rare natural phenomenon will be used as an attraction to attract more tourists. It will help in achieving the target of 12 million foreign tourist arrivals and 260 million domestic tourists this year, Ramli explained.
The total solar eclipse with a duration of about 2-3 minutes will happen across 12 provinces in Indonesia, namely, Bengkulu, West Sumatra, South Sumatra, Jambi, Bangka Belitung, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, and Maluku. It will also occur in major cities such as Palembang, Tanjung Pandang, Palangkaraya, Balikpapan, Palu, Ternate and Sofifi.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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