Tourism school students be to deployed at IMF-WB meeting

Jakarta (Antaranews Bali) - Hundreds of students from tourism schools in Indonesia will be deployed to assist in the implementation of the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) Meetings in Bali on October 7-15, 2018.

Deputy of Industry and Institutional Development at the Ministry of Tourism, Rizki Handayani Mustafa, here on Sunday said the ministry would coordinate with tourism schools in various cities, including Bandung (West Java), Bali, Medan (North Sumatra), Makassar (South Sulawesi), Palembang (South Sumatra), and Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara).

"Hundreds of students from several universities in Bali are also recruited to help implement this event," she said, adding that their involvement in the event was also a learning media for them.

A number of students have been recruited, selected, and are undergoing trainings according to their respective duties that will be carried out during the event.

Rizki said the IMF-WB Meetings will be participated by more than 18,000 people who will attend various meetings and events.

"These will encourage the re-branding of Bali and Indonesia as MICE destinations, especially for world meetings and conferences," she said.

The Tourism Ministry also sells 63 tour packages to the 2018 IMF-WB Annual Meetings participants who come from 189 countries.

This annual world event is indeed an important momentum in promoting Indonesia`s tourism while opening up the potential income for the nation.

Data obtained from Bappenas (Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning) showed that the spending by the IMF-WB Annual Meetings delegates is estimated to reach Rp943.5 billion (about US$63.7 million) of which 95.2 percent of the participants are foreign tourists.

The Indonesian government will initiate a number of activities as a platform to bring Indonesian colors into the meetings with inclusive engagement including Indonesia cultural and art performances, Pavilion Indonesia, Cultural Terrace Indonesia, as well as Indonesian food festival.

A parallel event of I La Galigo will also be held. It is a contemporary rendition from traditional epic of Sureq Galigo, an epic poem of the Bugis people of South Sulawesi, which is longer than the Mahabharata from India and comparable to the adventures of Ulysses in Homer`s Odyssey from Greece. (WDY)