The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, in collaboration with
the Indonesian Tourism Industry Association (GIPI), will host the
inaugural international tourism forum, the Wonderful Indonesia Tourism
Fair (WITF) 2024, in early September next year. This event aspires to
become a recognised market fair, akin to ITB Berlin, IMEX Frankfurt, ATM
Dubai, or Thai Travel Mart.
Going international
“Up until today, we don’t have a travel and tourism fair with a big
scale. We do have Bali and Beyond Travel Fair but it is mostly perceived
as to promote and market only Bali. Most of buyers and sellers see it
that way. So, the WITF 2024 aims to answer the absence of such fair,”
said Hariyadi Sukamdani, General Chairman of GIPI, adding that the
biggest homework is how to package this event so buyers will come.
Ni Made Ayu Marthini, Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism
and Creative Economy, expressed optimism about Indonesia's capacity to
host a world-class event like ITB Berlin, given the country's vast
tourism potential.
“Indonesia is a huge country with tremendous potential in tourism
field. So, I am glad that this dream to have international scale of
forum will soon come true,” she said. The time is perfect as next year
she said: ”There is no excuse it should be the time when we have to
accelerate.”
Building up to the excitement
Leading up to the main event, various activities will be organised,
including tourism campaigns, awards, a travel mart, and conferences. A
national symposium on sustainable tourism and green investment was held
on 9 October 2023 as part of these preparations.
The symposium brought together over 500 participants, including
officials from the Ministry of Tourism, representatives from all 38
provincial levels, members of the Confederation of Indonesian Tourism
Industry (GIPI), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Indonesian embassies
in various countries worldwide.
"In today's symposium, we underscore Indonesia's tourism sector
commitment to sustainable practices, exemplified by our green investment
program," emphasised Budi Tirtawisata, Deputy Chairman of GIPI, during
his conference address.
Several key topics were addressed during the one-day conference.
These included exploring how environmentally-friendly destinations could
yield attractive returns for investors, strategising to market
Indonesia as a green destination, and devising industry-wide responses
to the challenges posed by climate change.
WITF’s objective
The objective of WITF 2024 is to promote tourism in Indonesia by
inviting both buyers (including regional travel agencies, domestic
agents, incentive tour operators, and investors) and sellers (such as
tour operators, amenity producers, accommodation providers, restaurant
owners, airlines, land transport companies, and yacht operators).
The government is optimistic about achieving its target of 10 to 11
million foreign tourists by the end of this year, with over 7.44 million
international tourist arrivals in the first eight months of 2023.
Malaysian tourists remain the leading group, followed by those from
Australia, Singapore, China, and Timor Leste.