South Sumatra looks to boost MICE tourism

Ansyor Idrus, The Jakarta Post, Palembang | Archipelago | Thu, February 28 2013, 3:48 PM

The South Sumatra provincial administration says it wants to boost meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) travel to the province to boost its numbers of domestic and international tourists.

"Half of the tourist arrivals to South Sumatra last year came from the MICE sector," Zainal Arifin, the secretary of the South Sumatra Tourism Office, said in Palembang on Thursday.

The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data said that 3.2 million tourists arrived in the province in 2011, the last year for which statistics were available. The number of foreign tourists to the province was 42,953 in 2011, up from 30,003 in 2010.

"The largest number of foreign tourists coming to the province is from Malaysia, followed by Singapore and China, mainly due to the openingof direct flights to the three countries to Palembang," Zainal said.

Fazadi Afdanie, an assistant to the South Sumatra governor, said that infrastructure prevented full exploitation of the province’s tourism potential.

"The Musi River, for example, has not been prepared for tourism, as is the Chao PhrayaRiver in Bangkok," Fazadi said.

He touted upcoming events to tourists, such as a triathlon in March, ASEAN Basketball League games in April and the Sriwijaya Festival in Palembang in May.

"Up to 35,000 tourists are expected to visit the province this year," Zainal said.