Pangkalpinag (Antara Bali) - National and international tourism players will hold a seminar on international marine tourism at Novotel Hotel in Pangkalpinang, Bangka-Belitung (Babel) province from September 21-22, 2011.
"The seminar will be held as part of Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 2011 in a bid to promote Babel tourism potential to the participants of the international marine event Sail Wakatobi-Belitung 2011," local Culture and Tourism Office spokesman Yan Megawandi said here on Saturday.
He said at least 14 domestic and foreign speakers from among others Malaysia, Fiji, Australia, and Canada would speak on marine-based development in the two-day seminar.
The domestic speakers, according to him, would come from Bandung Institute of Technology, Gajah Mada University, University of Indonesia.
Besides, he said Kapayang island resort manager, Budi, would also be invited to share his experience on the way how he managed Kepayang island into an interesting coral and turtle conservation area in Babel.
According to Yan Megawandi, the speaker from the University of Indonesia in the seminar would explain underwater archeology as part of marine tourism.
"More than a hundred tourism players and students around the world will attend the seminar and share their experiences about the methods of developing their respective tourism areas," Yan said.
He added that from that seminar, the tourist players on Babel Province would study a lot from the other participants and then develop the tourism potentials more properly in the province.
Yan said the economy of the people in Babel at present is still depending on tin mining, and therefore they have less awareness of developing the local tourism potentials.
According to him, the series of Sail Wakatobi Belitong 2011 would be divided into two, namely Belitung island would host the outdoor activity, and Bangka Island would host indoor activity.
The outdoor activities in Belitung island will among others include cruise ships and yachts rally, underwater world chess record breaking, international beach volley ball tournament, Singapore-Belitung Cruise, seaweed planting activity, turtles conservation activity, and fishing competition.
While the indoor activities in Banka island will include Babel potential exhibition, sailing and diving training for the teens, pepper plantation agro-tourism, and marine eco-tourism international seminar.(*)
