Sandiaga Uno Wants To Invite Lionel Messi Et Al To Travel To Labuan Bajo

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Uno wants to invite the Argentine national team to travel to Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, when visiting Indonesia to face the Indonesian national team in the FIFA Match Day test match, 19 June 2023.

So far, according to him, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has prepared five super priority tourist destinations to be visited by the world champion team, including Lake Toba, Bali, and Labuan Bajo. "Super priority tourist destinations are Lake Toba and Bali, they will definitely want to, but I want to invite them to Labuan Bajo. This is a new destination that has caught the world's attention a lot," Sandiaga said during a working visit in Bandung, West Java, quoted from Antara, Saturday, May 27. According to him, the arrival of Lionel Messi et al. to Indonesia is predicted to have a major influence on Indonesian tourism. Because apart from the Argentine national team, he said, other foreign tourists will visit Indonesia to watch football matches between Argentina and Indonesia.

"I congratulate you, congratulations to my friend Mr. Erick Thohir and the team who can present Messi and his friends. I am very impressed and definitely tickets will be sold out later," said Sandiaga. He admitted that he would only observe from afar and focus on calculating the economic impact of the Argentine national team visit.

"I gave fans of Indonesian football the opportunity to watch it," said Sandiaga. Previously, the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) through PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir announced that the Indonesian national team would undergo a trial match against Argentina on FIFA Match Day on June 19, 2023. Erick conveyed this at a press conference attended by representatives of the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) Supporter of Oltre Consulting Account Pablo Sebastian Wergifker, Team Manager of Argentina Daniel Cabrera, and Oltre Consulting Account Maria Kirya Russo at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday 24 May.