The island district to host the event was based on the appointment of the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs Binsar Panjaitan through the Deputy of Human Resources, Science and Technology and Maritime Culture Coordination, Dr. Ir. Safri Burhanuddin.
Sail Indonesia itself is an annual maritime tourism event that has been held since 2009. The last area to host this Sail Indonesia organizer is Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) in September 2018, namely Sail Moyo Tambora. This time, it is Nias` turn to be appointed as the host candidate for the Sail Indonesia organizer in 2019.
"The appointment of Nias as a candidate for the Sail Indonesia host is certainly not without reason. This is assessed from a number of attractions presented by the Nias people," said Assistant Deputy for Culture, Arts and Maritime Sports, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Kosmas Harefa in his remarks when opening the Preparatory Discussion for 2019 Sail Indonesia activities through a written statement in Jakarta, Tuesday.
One of the attractions came from South Nias District at the Ya`ahowu Nias Festival 2018 which took place on 16-20 November 2018 which was considered to be able to attract the attention of tourists, both local and foreign.
"We have seen the cultural attractions in Bawomataluo Village. The extraordinary cultural attractions are displayed by the Bawomataluo people," said Kosmas.
According to him, the various attractions of Nias must be encouraged as a tourist attraction that can be stunning, and well packaged so as to have a positive impact on the community and attract the attention of foreign and domestic tourists.
For this reason, Kosmas said there needs to be cooperation and synergy across ministries, such as the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) and the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) in terms of basic infrastructure development, so that related sectors, especially tourism in Nias, can expand.
"Because, if we look at the potential, South Nias is no less interesting than other regions, it tends to be unique. We can see for ourselves how attractive the performance of the indigenous groups in Bawomataluo village," said Kosmas who had visited the village the custom.
The appointment of Nias as the host of the upcoming Sail Indonesia 2019 organizer also received appreciation from the Chairperson of South Nias District DPRD, Sidi Adil Harita.
Meanwhile, the Head of South Nias District Hilarius Duha hoped that Sail Nias could be bigger than the Nias Pro "surfing event" which had been carried out several times in the Nias Islands. For this reason, he needs support and cooperation from all stakeholders.
"We cannot work alone. All stakeholders must work together, so that the results will be better. There must be a well-planned division of tasks, so that Sail Nias can be carried out better," he said.
For information, in southern Nias there are many interesting tourism objects, such as the Bawomataluo Traditional Village and Sorake Beach. Not only that, the village located in South Nias also displays cultural attractions inherited from generation to generation by ancestors. This cultural attraction was very well known since long ago, namely the attraction of stone jumping culture or popularly called as "Hombo Batu".
In the meantime, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya and Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly expressed his happiness to hear that the district where he was born has been appointed as the host the 2019 Sale Indonesia and on Monday in Jakarta he officiated the launch of the Top 100 Wonderful Indonesia Calendar festival. .
Among the festival`s attractions are a spectacular war dance featuring 1,000 dancers, culinary and handicraft exhibitions, the Ya`ahowu Nias Parade, cultural attractions, the Barbecue Festival and a beach volleyball competition.
The region`s unique stone-jumping culture is to feature 100 jumpers in an attempt to break the record in the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI).
Marvels with tourism potential, from cultural to natural, constituted attractions which include world-class surfing destinations, white sandy beaches and Bawomataluo village`s famous stone-jumping tradition.
In addition to the Ya`ahowu Nias Festival, the island district has hosted the World Surf League`s 2018 Nias Pro competition, from Aug. 24-28 at Sorake Beach in South Nias, which is expected to boost local and national tourism.
Reporter: Eliswan Azly
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
