Indonesia to partcipate in DEMA Show 2008 in US

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia, represented by the Tourism and Culture Department, will promote the marine tourism potentials of its eastern regions at a Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) Show 2008 which is to take place on October 22 to 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the United States, a tourism official said. 

"For 2009, we are planning to develop marine tourism such as diving. Therefore, we will participate in the DEMA Show 2008 and bring along 72 participants," Sapta Nirwandar, director general of marketing affairs at the Tourism and Culture Department, said here Friday. 

Nirwandar said the Indonesian delegation to the show would be led by him and consist of representatives of the regional administrations of North Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, Wakatobi, North Maluku, Central Sulawesi and Raja Ampat (West Papua). 

The delegation would also include 22 tourism and airline industry representatives and journalists from print and electronic media. 

"Most of the participants will came from around Manado, North Sulawesi," he said. 

Indonesia would use 32 booths inside the Indonesia Pavilion at DEMA 2008, and the interior of the pavilion would show the logos of "Ultimate in Diversity" and "Visit Indonesia Year 2008". 

"We hope by participating in events like DEMA 2008, we can encourage more and more tourists to come to Indonesia and support the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 program," he said. 

At the DEMA 2008, Indonesia would also publicize the program of the World Ocean Conference which will be held in Manado, North Sulawesi, in May, 2009. 

Nirwamdar said the United States was one of the most potenitial markets for Indonesia`s tourism. 

A total of 160,000 to 180,000 US tourists were expected to visit Indonesia in 2008. 

As per August 2008, some 103,324 American tourists had visited Indonesia. The figure represented an increase of 26.39 percent from the same period last year.