About 1,220 hotel rooms in the westernmost island of Sabang, in Aceh Province, have already been fully booked by guests, Accommodation Section head of Sail Sabang`s Committee, Daud, stated, when answering questions regarding the progress in organizing the event.
He added that the Sail Sabang Committee has already compiled the data of all home stays and rooms that would be offered to the visitors.
"All the hotel rooms have already been fully booked. We would offer home stays or rented houses for the incoming tourists," he explained.
Furthermore, he predicted that the event would attract around 5 thousand local and international visitors.
The event, under the theme of "Towards Sabang, World`s Marine Tourism Destination Gate," would be opened directly by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Dec 2.
The main locations for Sail Sabang are Sabang Bay or CT3 BPKS Sabang Port, Sabang Fair, and Indonesia`s Kilometer Zero Tower.
Aceh Cultural and Tourism Office (Disbudpar) head, Reza Fahlevi, explained that around 80 percent of the preparation for the event had already been completed.
"Yes, right now, about 80 percent of preparations have been completed," Fahlevi revealed in Ulee-Lheue Port, Banda Aceh, on Saturday.
According to him, the preparation for the event is not just done in the particular province, but the central`s Ministry of Tourism has also held meetings for the annual event`s preparation.
"We have called on the relevant parties to discuss Sail Sabang`s readiness, along with the central committee," he pointed out.
Fahlevi also added that starting next week, the central and the regional committee would work extra hard to ensure the event?s success.
"To ensure Sail Sabang`s success, the committee would do more in Sabang in order to make the event more lively and successful," he asserted.
Previously, Sail Indonesia was held in Morotai, North Maluku in 2012; Komodo, East Nusa Tenggara in 2013; Raja Ampat, West Papua in 2014; and Sail Tomini, Central Sulawesi in 2015.
reported by Irman Yusuf
(T.KR-MBR/A/KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
