Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia's Tourism Ministry has promoted the Wonderful Indonesia brand at the International Palais des Festival Cannes, Paris, France, from March 15 to 18, 2016.

"The Wonderful Indonesia brand also appeared in the investment business arena. The results were relatively good where many visitors expressed their interest," Tourism Minister, Arief Yahya, said here Saturday.

Cannes is known not only as a biggest world film festival venue but also as a place for investment promotion for property and tourism through The World's Property Market (MIPIM) from March 15 to 18, 2016, at the Palais des Festival Cannes.

MIPIM 2016 was attended by 21,400 individual participants, 3,600 CEOs and chairmen, 2,450 exhibition firms, 4,800 investors, 380 journalists and 370 political leaders.

The festival united various influential stakeholders in all international property sectors such as hotels, housings, retailers, and health, in addition to sports, logistics, and industries.

The Wonderful Indonesia branding organized by the Tourism Ministry in cooperation with foreign consultant Ogilvy, lifted the Indonesian branding by 10 percent, tourism 11 percent and investment to Indonesia by two percent, Minister Arief said.

"The higher the branding the higher the interest it gains," Yahya noted.

Last week, the Indonesian Tourism Ministry also promoted the Wonderful Indonesia brand on the sidelines of the Fifth Extraordinary Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held at the Jakarta Convention Center on March 6 and 7.

The ministry extended support for conducting the summit, the ministry's spokesman Billy Iqbal Alamsyah said.

"We provided support in several forms, including by providing souvenirs, etc," he said.

The summit was also a strategic forum to promote the Wonderful Indonesia brand, as a total of 605 delegates from 57 countries and two international organizations were present in the meeting, he said.

While the OIC leaders held a closed-door meeting, the ministry screened a video on Indonesias top tourist destinations at the media center set up to facilitate some 500 national and foreign journalists.

Heritage and Wonderful Indonesia stands presenting the Indonesian Beauty Pageant were set up in front of the media center.

Widayanti Bandia, head of the Tourism Business Partnership Department of the Tourism Ministry, said that the ministry, in cooperation with Mustika Ratu, offered free spa treatment to delegates. "The spa that we offer here is halal and in accordance with Syariah (Islamic laws)," she said.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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