REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By. Otniel Tamindael

JAKARTA -- Indonesia was among the eight most impressive participants at the Best Exhibitor Awards (BEA) at the 2014 Internationale Tourismus-Borse Berlin, better known as ITB Berlin, in Germany.

The Deputy Director of the International Promotion for Europe Agustini Rahayu told Antara here on Monday that the exhibitors were assessed on numerous criteria such as creativity, originality, service quality, sustainability and special effects.

She said Indonesia has been participating in the travel trade expo since 1967, and this time the country introduced its rich textiles, culinary heritage, traditional phinisi schooner and a huge variety of herbal products at the expo, which was held from March 5 to 9.

"At the ITB Berlin 2014, Indonesia occupied an area of 410 square meters in Hall 26A/Pavilion 120 and 235, with a new tagline: Wonderful Indonesia, Heart of World's Wonders," she said.

According to her, around 88 members of the travel industry in Indonesia, comprising airlines, hotels and the provincial tourism offices from Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, East Kalimantan, North Sulawesi and Papua, participated in the world's leading travel trade show.

Meanwhile, Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Pangestu said the true wonder of Indonesia lies in the caring nature of its culturally diverse people, who have been living in harmony with nature and with each other for thousands of years.

She noted that the nation's devotion to nature has inspired the people to create cultural wonders which are acknowledged by the world as treasures of humanity.

"Indonesia is the place where the human heart works wonders. This is why the Indonesian people smile a lot and put their heart into all that they do," Minister Mari Pangestu said.

The minister noted that Indonesia recorded 8.8 million international arrivals in 2013, an increase of 9.42 per cent compared with the previous year.

The number is higher than the world tourism's average growth rate of 5 per cent per year.

With the positive trend, the contribution of tourism to Indonesia's GDP reached 3.8 per cent.

In line with the increasing number of visitors to Indonesia, the tourism sector's biggest impact in 2013 was the employment of 10.18 million people or 8.89 per cent of the total national labor force, meaning that one out of 10 productive workers is in the tourism sector.

"With these positive figures, we are optimistic that our target of 9.5 million international visitors for 2014 will be reached," the minister said.

According to ITB Berlin press release, this year's event sent out a positive signal for the international travel industry.

"With the global economy expected to recover in the years to come, the world's travel industry has begun the year confident of getting good tourism business," it said.

Following a recent period of relatively sluggish growth, particularly in many recession-hit countries, the global travel industry is once again on course for rapid growth.

This year's ITB Berlin reported a four per cent rise in trade visitors and an increase in business volume, the worth of which was 6.5 billion euros, according to Messe Berlin.

The focus of the world's leading travel trade fair, which came to an end on Sunday, was on travel bookings via smartphones and tablets and on sustainable practices in the travel industry.

The ITB Berlin press release stated that 10,147 exhibitors from 189 countries were represented in 26 halls which were booked to capacity between March 5 and 9.

Overall, some 114 thousand trade visitors travelled to Berlin. The ITB Berlin Convention registered record levels of attendance. A total of 22 thousand people took part in around 200 lectures, discussions and workshops, an increase of more than 5 per cent over 2013.

Visitors thronged the halls on the last Saturday of the show. Despite the unusually warm weather for this time of the year, more than 60 thousand members of the general public came to find out about the wide-ranging information on offer from exhibitors and providers of niche market products.

As in 2013, Indonesia was the first Asian country to be named an official partner country for ITB Berlin.

After becoming an official partner of ITB Berlin, Indonesia attempted to capture the European tourism market, according to Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry`s promotion director, Esthy Reko Astuti.

She noted that ITB Berlin gave Indonesia a major opportunity to optimally increase the number of European tourists in Indonesia.

During the event, European tourists were encouraged to visit not only the main tourist destination of Bali but also other tourist attractions across Indonesia.

"Therefore, we also intensively promote other potential tourist attractions in Sumatra, Java, Lombok, Flores, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua," she added.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy Sapta Nirwandar has said that Indonesia offers great potential for Germany, its foremost trading partner in the European Union.

"Our participation in ITB Berlin will provide a long-term boost to our popularity in the German and international market, and with our wide range of tourism products, we send out a positive signal to both business visitors and the general public," he stated.

He noted that during the event, Indonesia warmly welcomed all its guests and served them all the luxuries a tourist could ever want.

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