Participating In Dubai 2022 Arabian Travel Market, Sandiaga Mention The Potential Foreign Exchange Generated Reaches Rp220 M

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) participates in the largest international tourism market in the Middle East region, namely the 'Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Dubai 2022', which is held offline and online.

The event will be held at the Dubai World Trade Center and on 17-18 May 2022 online from 9-12 May in Bali in an effort to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Indonesia's active participation in the Dubai ATM is also one of the efforts of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in promoting Indonesian tourism in the international arena, considering that the Middle East region is included in the list of very strategic main markets.

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, explained that the Middle East market, especially the United Arab Emirates, is one of the contributors to tourist visits to Indonesia with a fairly large number.

In 2019, there were around 263,923 tourists from the Middle East who visited Indonesia with a contribution to the country's foreign exchange income of Rp5.9 trillion.

"We hope that Indonesia's active participation in ATM Dubai 2022 can increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals to Indonesia which in the end can contribute to increasing the country's foreign exchange earnings and adding jobs, so that the people's economy can get up soon," he said in an official statement, Sunday, 22 May.

For the transaction value itself, in offline exchange activities (live events) the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy was present with eight Indonesian tourism industries and generated foreign exchange potential of US$15,177,585 billion or equivalent to Rp220 billion.

The countries of origin of these prospective foreign tourists come from Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, Algeria, Brazil, Lebanon, Nigeria, Qatar, and India. These prospective foreign tourists have targeted several leading destinations to be visited, namely Jakarta, Bali, West Java, Labuan Bajo, NTB, and Central Java.

As for Dubai ATM activities online, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy facilitates 30 tourism industries, with potential foreign exchange generated of US$2,389,378 or Rp. 34.65 billion.

"We believe that Indonesia's participation in the 2021 Dubai ATM can further increase tourist confidence in Indonesia as a world-class tourist destination," said Sandiaga.

In addition to being specifically for the Middle East region, said Sandiaga, Dubai ATM also opens up opportunities for Indonesia to attract more markets from other countries, because more than 80 countries carry out their tourism marketing on this exchange.

The Dubai ATM 2022 activities include business to business meetings, where Indonesian tourism industry players (sellers) are met with potential buyers. Because in the world of tourism business, direct meetings between sellers and buyers are an important milestone for the existence of Indonesian tourism in the competitive arena of the world tourism industry.

"In addition to promoting Indonesian tourism, our presence at the Dubai ATM 2022 is also to provide information regarding the relaxation of the Indonesian government's policies in providing various facilities for Foreign Travel Actors (PPLN), after the opening of Bali in February 2022," said Sandiaga.

In addition, Sandiaga said that at the Dubai ATM 2022 event there were also direct meetings with wholesalers, online travel agents (OTA), and international airlines to increase integrated cooperation related to Indonesian tourism, especially to increase seat capacity and flight frequency to Indonesia.

Finally, the dissemination of information on Indonesian tourism destinations and the latest policies regarding the rules for visiting Indonesia for tourists are combined with the use of digital communication technology to make it easier to find information. Even this year, the provision of information also uses robotic technology to help attract tourists to Indonesia.

"This robot, which is specially programmed to provide information on Indonesian tourism destinations, helps the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy in disseminating information more intensely during the 4-day event at the Dubai World Trade Center," he said.