Padang, West Sumatra Ready to Host Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (Time) 2013

The Indonesian annual travel mart - Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME) or ‘Pasar Wisata Indonesia’ will this year take place in Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra after being held for two years in Bandar Lampung. 

This premier tourism event is scheduled to be held on 18 – 21 October 2013 at Grand Inna Muara Hotel & Convention Centre. Entering its 19th year of conduct, TIME is organized to promote Indonesia as a tourist destination in the international market and at the same time raise the country’s image as a global travel destination.
 

Meity Robot, Chairwoman of the Steering Committee of TIME 2013 said that in its 18-year history, TIME has previously been held in Java and Eastern Indonesia (Makassar and Lombok). Lampung is the first venue for TIME in Sumatra. “We are happy to announce that TIME this year will take place in Padang,” said Metty.
 

“The shifting of TIME to West Sumatra is aimed at promoting West Sumatra to the international market and speeding up the development and improvement of infrastructure, tourism facilities and tourism attractions in the region, so that at the end the destination could establish itself as a global travel destination. It will attract more tourist arrivals to the island and speed up the improvement of infrastructure and encourage more investors to the region to develop new hotels as well as tourism attractions,” Meity went on.
 

Various destinations in Sumatra are equipped with a good variety of quality hotels as well as cultural, natural and man-made attractions. “Hosting TIME would allow international buyers to take a closer look at the products on offer and aid local tourism stakeholders in selling their products overseas,” she added.
 

There are six (regional) gateways in Sumatra, namely Banda Aceh, Medan, Pekanbaru, Padang, Palembang and Batam. “While direct regional services are still limited to Malaysia and Singapore, destinations in Sumatra can use these regional hubs to attract travelers from beyond these countries,” Meity concluded.
 

As every year, top industry policy-makers, sellers and buyers of Indonesian tourism products and services will be participating. TIME accommodates the interests of local industry players seeking to introduce their tourism products and services to the international markets. The event will feature the best of Indonesia’s tourist attractions, including exciting destinations and special interests as well as top tourist facilities in the country.

The annual mart is run on a yearly rotating basis to promote as much provinces to the world as possible in the future.TIME 2013 is organized by the Indonesian Tourism Council together with the Provincial Government of West Sumatra and is fully supported by the Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy of Indonesia and the entire tourism components in Indonesia.

TIME 2013 is also supported by Garuda Indonesia as Official Airlines, other supporting airlines, Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies (ASITA) Padang, Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Padang, Indonesian Conference and Convention Association (INCCA), and Pacto Convex as the event organizer.
 

Last year, TIME in Bandar Lampung attracted 83 buyers from 28 countries dominated by India, Singapore, China, The Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates, with 74 Indonesian sellers occupying 60 booths. The percentage of sellers based on industry covered Hotel, Resort & Spa (75%), NTO (10%), Tour Operator/Travel Agent (7%), Adventure/Activity Holiday (3%), Airline (1.5%), and Others (Hotel Management, etc. (8.5%).

For more information please refer to www.tourismindonesiamartexpo.com