Indonesia - Bandar Lampung will be host of this year’s Indonesia’s annual travel mart Tourism Indonesia Mart&Expo (TIME) or Pasar Wisata Indonesia. This Indonesian premier tourism event will be held on October 11-14, 2011 at Novotel Hotel Lampung. Entering its 17th years of conduct, TIME is organized by the Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board (ITPB) and supported by entire tourism components in Indonesia.

The Chairwoman and Steering Committee of TIME 2011, Meity Robot, said the conduct of TIME also supports the government program of “Wonderful Indonesia” as TIME is aimed at promoting Indonesia as a tourist destination in the international market and at the same time raising the country image as one of the top global travel destinations.

“TIME is the only international travel mart in Indonesia with [the] business-to-business concept. The event is a meeting place for those who sell tourism products and services in Indonesia (seller) to [the] international market (buyer). TIME has been listed in the calendar of international travel mart together with ITB Berlin, WTM London, Arabian Travel Mart (ATM), PATA Travel Mart, and so on. TIME 2011 will present all tourist destinations, including popular travel destinations, tourism objects, new product development,” Meity continued.

“The shifting of TIME to Lampung will be for two consecutive years, i.e., 2011 and next year, is aimed at promoting Lampung to the international market and speeding up the development and improvement of infrastructure, tourism facilities, and tourism attractions in the region, so that at the end, the destination could establish itself as one of [the top] global travel destinations. It will attract more tourist arrivals to the island and speed up the improvement of infrastructure and encourage more investors to the region to develop new hotels, as well as tourism attractions,” Meity went on.

The province of Lampung lies west of the capital, across the Sunda strait. An active volcano stands at its gateway, the world renowned son of Krakatau, and it is home to two of Indonesia’s largest natural reserves. It is located a short flight away from Jakarta. TIME 2011 will coincide with the holding of Festival Krakatau, an annual culture fest that ends with a tour of the active volcano itself.

Held last year in Lombok, TIME 2010 successfully attracted total attendants of 118 buyers from 22 countries, with top five buyers consisting of Korea, China, India, Singapore, and Indonesia. TIME 2010 also attracted a total of 104 sellers from 80 companies from various provinces of Indonesia, dominated by West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta, Bali, North Sumatera, and Central Java as top five sellers. The percentage of sellers based on industry is hotel, resort and spa (75%), NTO (10%), tour operator/travel agent (7%), adventure/activity holiday (3%), airline (1.5%), and others (hotel management, tourism board, tourism organization and travel portal (8.5%). TIME 2010 has booked an estimated US$18.9 million in transactions, or increasing 8% from the previous year held in Lombok, West Nusa Teggara. “The number of buyers attending TIME for seven consecutive years [has] been relatively steady since these are potential buyers which sell Indonesian tourism products and services in their markets respectively,” Meity concluded.

TIME 2011 is supported by the travel and tourism industry in Indonesia, namely Ministry of Culture and Tourism, provincial government of Lampung, Garuda Indonesia as Official Airlines, other supporting airlines, Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (INACA), Board of Airline Representatives Indonesia (BARINDO), Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA), Indonesia Hotels and Restaurant Association (PHRI), Indonesian Conference and Convention Association (INCCA), and Titan Convex as the event organizer, supported by national and international media.