Indonesia has been aggressively promoting its tourism brand of "Wonderful Indonesia" in different parts of the world, such as in Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - When it comes to attracting as many foreign tourists as possible, Indonesia certainly does not stay relaxed while waiting for it to happen out of the blue.

Instead, the country has been aggressively promoting its tourism brand of "Wonderful Indonesia" in different parts of the world, such as in Asia, Australia, and Europe.

In Asia, Wonderful Indonesia was promoted in Chinas three main cities of Hefei, Wuxi, and Hangzhou from Aug 29 to Sept 1, 2017, in an effort to boost the visit by foreign tourists from the "Country of Bamboo Curtain" to Indonesia.

Vinsensius Jemadu, the Ministry of Tourism Deputy Assistant for Tourism Market Development in Asia Pacific, remarked in a written statement recently that he had also extended the reach of tourism promotion and marketing to other cities in mainland China such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shenzhen.

According to him, China is a major tourist market because of the country's significance among other markets in terms of quantity and growth.

"The number of Chinese tourist visiting Indonesia until June was almost 1 million people, or the largest among any market, and its year-on-year growth rate in the Jan-June 2017 period was almost 50 percent," Jemadu explained.

Moreover, a number of Indonesian airlines have also opened flights to major cities in China, making the promotion of Indonesian tourism in the country a necessity.

In the meantime, Wonderful Indonesia will also be promoted during the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Travel Mart, which will be held from Sept 13 to 15, 2017.

Hosted by Macao Government Tourism Office, PATA Travel Mart is Asia Pacifics premier travel trade show, attracting tourism officials and professionals from tourist destinations in the Asia Pacific region and beyond to Macao.

Jemadu noted that Indonesias participation in the PATA Travel Mart in Macau aims to promote its attractive tourists destinations among Chinese tourists.

"PATA Travel Mart 2017 in Macau is the right event to promote Wonderful Indonesia to tourism businesses in the Asia Pacific region as one of the focus areas of our tourism market," he noted.

Jemadu added that Indonesia has rented a land area of 108 square meters that will be designed with the nuance of Wonderful Indonesia and the Indonesian pavilion that characterizes the diversity of Indonesian culture with a modern touch.

He invited 12 domestic industry players, including Garuda Indonesia, to participate in the PATA Travel Mart to market the tour packages to Indonesia.

PATA Travel Mart is one event that has a strong credibility and is recognized by the worlds tourism industry, Jemadu explained.

Besides Asia, tourist attractions in Indonesia will also be promoted by numerous tourist buses in Paris, France, for a month, starting from Sept 12 to Oct 9, 2017.

Chief of Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) in France, Eka Moncarre, remarked on Tuesday that September will be full of Visit Indonesia activities.

Hence, he remarked that September would be the right month for tourist buses in Paris to promote Wonderful Indonesia to local communities and tourists visiting the city.

In addition, he noted that Wonderful Indonesia will also adorn every street in Paris and every corner of the city during the Visit Indonesia activities.

Moncarre added that the promotion of Wonderful Indonesia in Paris aims to attract as many European tourists as possible to visit Indonesia.

Two years after the opening of VITO Frances office to the public, the marketing of Wonderful Indonesia in the country has been more and more intense in order to capture French tourists to Indonesia.

Some 16 Open Tours Buses in Paris are being decorated with beautiful scenery in Indonesia such as Borobudur Temple, beautiful Balinese dancers, Komodo dragon, Lake Toba, and beautiful Raja Ampat.

Promotion of Wonderful Indonesia in Paris aims to be an invitation to explore Indonesia, in addition to explaining about the natural beauty of Indonesia and its culturally friendly people.

In the meantime, Indonesian-Australian Students Association in Western Australia (PPIA-WA) has promoted Wonderful Indonesia in Perth.

Tourism Ministrys Deputy for Tourism Development and Marketing Abroad I Gde Pitana remarked in a written statement to Antara on Sunday that the promotion of Wonderful Indonesia on Sept 9, 2017, was supported enthusiastically by both Indonesian and Australian communities in Western Australia.

Pitana revealed that he also supported the promotion of Wonderful Indonesia in Western Australia, as one of the focus of Indonesian tourism market.

"The event is a golden opportunity for the Indonesian students in Western Australia to showcase the beauty of their countrys tourism, culture, arts, music, and culinary delicacy," Pitana explained.

According to him, the event that took place at the Rocks 26 Cecil Avenue Cannington 6107 in Perth was attended by more than 1 thousand people from Western Australian students and communities.

Themed "Modern Retro," Wonderful Indonesia was enlivened by the performance of Malang Carnival, the performance of vocalist Kunto Aji from Yogyakarta, comic Fikri from Bogor, and Ran Band.

Even in Jakarta, My Trip My Adventure (MTMA) Community has also participated in promoting Wonderful Indonesia by involving young children interested in adventure tourism.

Tourism Ministrys Deputy for Tourism Marketing Development Esthy Reko Astuti remarked recently in a written statement that she positively welcomed the MTMA Community that took part in promoting Wonderful Indonesia.

"This community-based generation holds regular activities for promoting Indonesias charm. They use blogs and other social media (platforms) to promote Indonesian tourism to a wider community," Astuti noted.

According to Astuti, most members of the MTMA Community belong to the millennial generation that is familiar with gadgets and is in tune with the digital world to promote Indonesias tourism.

"Every episode has always been explored with new tourist sites that are rarely visited and showcased. With around 2 thousand members in 80 regions all over Indonesia, the MTMA Community is part of the Tourism Ministry to promote tourist destinations in the country," she concluded.(*)

Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017