World4Traveler

Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) is held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, for the second time after 2006. During October 14-17, 2008 international buyers from all over the world meet local sellers of tourism products from many islands and provinces in Indonesia at the newly built Celebes Convention Centre (CCC).

Makassar is a fascinating new tourist destination on the island of Sulawesi and is served by eight domestic airlines from the capital Jakarta. From Makassar, domestic flights expand to all the eastern parts of Indonesia. Also, for international flights, Makassar is nowadays connected with Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur by AirAsia on a daily basis.

Toraja Land is up till now the preferred tourist attraction to visit in South Sulawesi with an average of 65% of tourists from overseas. By taking this momentum , it was announced during the opening press conference on October 15 by Mr. Ana Saing, Head of South Sulawesi Culture & Tourism Office, that in the context of "Visit Indonesia Year 2008" there will be the launching of "Lovely December in Toraja Land" offering a 50% discount on all tourism packages.

This activity is assigned to push tourism development of South Sulawesi higher and to make South Sulawesi as "centrepoint" of Indonesia through tourism.

In a pre-show excursion tour on October 14, registered delegates were driven to the impressive Fort Rotterdam in Makassar and to the scenic Bantimurung Waterfall, which is some 60km away from the city.

Lombok announced to be host of TIME 2009

It was also announced that the next Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) in 2009 or "Pasarwisata Indonesia" will be held on the island of Lombok, which is not far away from the better-known tourist destination of Bali.

The Chairman of the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (ITPB), Mr. Pontjo Sutowo, had already assured this year's delegates during the opening ceremony in Makassar that ever since its first conduct of TIME in 1994 at Jakarta, TIME has been held to project the positive image of Indonesia and promote the Indonesian tourism industry in the international market.

Staging its 16th year of conduct in 2009 at Mataram, Lombok, TIME will definitely continue this tradition to speed up the development of the Indonesian tourism industry accordingly. As Makassar in Sulawesi this year, Lombok will offer visiting delegates a sound infrastructure and easy access via its new international airport. A post-tour is already planned to explore the nearby island of Sumbawa.

During a press conference, Chairperson of TIME2008 Steering Committee, Mrs. Meity Robot, said that TIME2008 is attended by 104 buyers from 21 countries, 108 sellers from 16 provinces of Indonesia occupying 86 booths, and 15 international travel writers from 9 countries. The event features mostly marine tourism products as well as new emerging MICE facilities in Indonesia.

All in all, the conduct of TIME2008 in Makassar has proven successful as a result of the good co-operation among the organising entities despite of the few numbers of buyers and sellers. This was reported during the closing press conference by Mrs. Meity Robot, Steering Committee Chairperson of TIME2008. Despite the current global financial crisis and the ongoing ban of the EU countries towards the airlines of Indonesia, TIME2008 has booked an estimated transaction of some US$ 15.2 million.