JAKARTA – Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay and Indonesian Vice President, Prof. Ma’ruf Amin will officially open the Global Tourism Forum_Leaders Summit Asia activities at Raffles Hotel, Jakarta, 15-16 September 2021. “This hybrid offline activity was attended by only 70 people with high standards of health procedures, while online participants and tourism organizations from various parts of the world participated,” said Sapta Nirwandar, Chairman of the Indonesia Tourism Forum (ITF), the event organizer.
According to Sapta, the ITF, which is affiliated with the World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFI), will begin with a dialogue session between the ITF and WTFI. Therefore, the President of WTFI, Bulut Bagci, was present in Jakarta along with several other international speakers.
All activities organized by WTFI are entitled Global Tourism Forum (GTF) The Global Tourism Forum is an initiative of the London-based World Tourism Forum Institute. Starting in 2020, the World Tourism Forum Institute events in various countries are entitled Global Tourism Forum.
“On the first day, the honorary speakers were the former Secretary General of UNWTO, the 2009-2017 World Tourism Board, Dr Taleb Rifai and on the second day 16 September, Tony Blair. former British Prime Minister 1997 – 2007 was also a keynote speaker,” explained Sapta Nirwandar.
GTF is an international collaboration platform focused on addressing challenges for the travel industry. Combining the joint efforts of government agencies, industry stakeholders, and academia. Therefore, according to the theme, Leaders Summit Asia, Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno will lead the Minister Talk session discussing the Reopening of Asean Tourism Destinations for International Tourist.
Therefore, according to the theme, Leaders Summit Asia, Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno will lead the Men Talk session discussing the Re-opening of Asean Tourism Destinations for International Tourists. Singapore was represented by Alvin Tan, Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Thong Korn, Minister of Tourism of Cambodia, Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of Arts, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, Phiphat Ratchakiyprakarn, and Minister of Main Resources and Tourism of Brunei Darussalam, Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali Bin Apong.
Another important session was on the first day the Investor Roundtable was held with the keynote speaker of the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, Dr H. Syahrul Yasin Limpo, followed by guest speaker Ismael Ertug MEP, VP Responsible Rourism for Transformation, Innovation & Strong Digital Europe from Belgium. The theme of this investor Roundtable is Tourism Investment and Finance Accessing Sustainable Funding and Social Impact Capital.
There is Abdulbar M Mansoer, President Director of the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) which manages the Nusa Dua and Mandalika areas, Lombok,” he said. Other resource persons in this session were Rajat Misra, Director General of South & Southeast Asia Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank China, Harry Warganegara, President Director of PT Berdikari, David Makes, CEO of Sustainable Management and Founder of Plataran Menjangan. There was David St Ange, a former candidate for Secretary General of UNWTO 2012-2016 from the Maldives (Seychelle) and the investor agenda was guided by Adi Satria, Senior VP of Accor Indonesia and Malaysia.
“Alhamdulillah, the Investor Roundtable continues to the second session of the discussion on Sustainable Investment in Tourism Properties because sustainable tourism is a world trend and Indonesia is rich with luxury properties for world-class tourism,” said Sapta Nirwandar.
In the second session, he added, there were Emma Wong, PhD, GAICD, academics from Torrens University Australia, Aeron McGrath, Regional Manager of Six Senses Hotel Resort Saudi Arabia and Michael Scully, Managing Director of First & Foremost Hotels & Resorts with Travel Connection UK. hosted by Mary Pratt, founder and brand collaboration consultant from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
For Sapta, what he is very proud of as chairman of the Indonesia Halal Lifestyle Center (IHLC) is that there is a session on the second day, 16 September 2921 which discusses the global development of Halal Tourism. The speakers were Reem El Shafaki from DinarStandar, Dubai, Dr Hamid Slimi, Chairman of Halal Expo, Canada and James Noh, Director General of Korea Institute of Halal Industry (KIHI) South Korea.
“So the prestigious global event, the Global Tourism Forum is a forum for mutual learning between member countries in the world. In Indonesia, citizens and officials are still reluctant to talk openly about Halal Tourism or Halal Muslim Friendly, now non-Muslim countries such as Korea, Thailand, Japan have taken extraordinary benefits,” said Sapta.
Another important session on the second day was discussing the Transformation of Tourism Industry Under The Women Leadership. As is known, the world tourism organization is also led by women. CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Gloria Guevara was replaced by another tough woman Julia Simpson as President & CEO.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFI) is Sumaira Issacs, who will also be the moderator for this session. Indonesia hosted the first Global Tourism Forum in Asia and also the first in terms of a special session on global halal tourism so that all Indonesian people must be proactive in being good hosts.
“Don’t be euphoric, but show that this nation is able to overcome COVID-19 with high progress, is able to become a world halal food producer country, is able to awaken the Meeting Incentive, Conference & Exhibition business. (MICE) and its slumping tourism,” said Sapta closing the release.
Anang Fadhilah
