... it will organize an exhibition of products of Indonesian tourism industry players that are part of ASITA."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Tourism Ministry (Kemenpar) is facilitating a meeting between tourism industry players of Indonesia and Malaysia at the Indonesia Tourism Table Top event being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Indonesian Tourism Minister (Menpar) Arief Yahya here on Thursday said the event is being held at the Pullman Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on August 24-25, 2016, and is one of the initiatives to attract more foreign tourists from the neighboring country.

"The current Indonesia Tourism Table Top event was one of the largest business meetings to be organized by the Indonesian government through its Tourism Ministry in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which is the countrys main tourist market and priority," Yahya noted.

Indonesia Tourism Table Top in Kuala Lumpur is part of a series of similar events earlier held in February 2016.

Some 50 sellers from the Indonesian tourism industry and 60 buyers from the Malaysian tourism industry got an opportunity to explore cooperation to realize business deals.

On the occasion, Indonesias Tourism Ministry invited its tourism industry players, which are also members of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agents (ASITA), from various provinces to participate in the event.

Industry players attending the event are coming from Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, and West Kalimantan.

"To disseminate information on various destinations in the country to the Malaysian buyers, it will organize an exhibition of products of Indonesian tourism industry players that are part of ASITA," he remarked.

The first day of the event featured presentations on tourism products and tour packages from Yogyakarta, Sumatra, and Java as the preferred destinations for Malaysian tourists.

A similar agenda was followed on the second day to disburse information on the tour package titled "Bali and Beyond," particularly to highlight South Sulawesi as a new destination for Malaysian tourists.

Minister Yahya stated that the two-day event would help players from Malaysias tourism industry to explore potential areas of cooperation with their prospective business partners from Indonesia.

"Thus, they can create and sell Indonesian tour packages in the Malaysian market," he stated.

Meanwhile, Deputy for International Marketing Development of the Tourism Ministry I Gde Pitana affirmed that this cooperation will serve as a testament to the fact that both nations support the ASEANs Single-Destination Tourism strategy to encourage the joint promotion of the ASEAN region.

"One of the strategic action plans to implement the policies outlined in the ASEANs Single-Destination Tourism Strategy is to expand connectivity," he remarked.

He added that Indonesia and Malaysia are now connected by 12 airlines that offer direct flights between 10 cities in Malaysia and 18 cities in Indonesia.

"In the near future, we hope more cities in these two countries would have direct flight connectivity," Pitana stated.

Hence, both governments, along with the players from the industry, should seek to promote the idea.

(Reported by Hanni Sofia Soepardi/Uu.B020/INE/KR-BSR/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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