Indonesia Promotes Mice Tourism To Increase Tourist Visits

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - The government is promoting Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition (MICE) sector as a national tourism attraction to attract more tourists to Indonesia.

"As a result of the focus on MICE tourism, the number of foreigners visiting Indonesia has risen. Therefore, the ministry of tourism continues to promote this sector," the Head of Business Marketing Development of the Ministry of Tourism, Hidayat said here on Wednesday.

He added that MICE is among the top five tourism sectors to attract more foreign tourists, besides shopping, culinary and cultural, maritime and sport tourism.

"The government is boosting Indonesia`s MICE tourism at the global level from five percent to ten percent growth by 2019," Hidayat added.

Data obtained from the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) shows Indonesia is 42nd in the world and 12th in the Asia Pacific region.

The position at the regional level has increased by eight rankings due to the number of events held increasing from 76 to 150 in 2019.

MICE is projected to earn foreign exchange up to US$2.5 billion, Hidayat noted.

He pointed out that that as a result of these efforts, the tourism sector, especially MICE, can become one of the national economic driving forces.(WDY)