After being held in Yogyakarta for two consecutive years, Makassar, formerly known as Ujung Pandang - is now getting ready to welcome this year’s annual Indonesian tourism show, Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo (TIME). TIME 2006 or known as ‘Pasar Wisata Indonesia’ 2006 will be held at Clarion Hotel & Convention from 18 – 21 September 2006. This tourism event has been held for twelve years now, organized by the Indonesia Tourism Promotion Board (ITPB) with support from the entire tourism industry in Indonesia.

Chairperson of TIME 2006 Steering Committee, Mrs. Meity Robot, said, “TIME brings top travel industry members from around the world to see first hand the enduring charm of our tropical country and the significant new investments made in the tourism sectors. Let’s show buyers and sellers that Indonesia remains to be one of the world’s great destinations eventhough its tourism sector has not yet been fully recovered after experiencing various setbacks for the last four years due to global problems.

This year’s TIME will be held in Makassar, South Sulawesi, the first city in the Eastern part of Indonesia to host the event.

“I see that the changing of venue of TIME every two years is very effective to promote every province in Indonesia to the international market, so that international holidaymakers will be attracted to travel to other provinces. With more people coming, there will definitely be improvement in the infrastructure within the region. This will not only increase the development of the tourism related industry, but also the supporting industries,” said Meity.

“As gateway to the East Indonesia region, Makassar possesses sound infrastructure and facilities required for hosting international events, such as TIME. This includes an international airport, Hasanuddin, as well as world-class accommodation. At present, 15 domestic airlines fly to Makassar. Moreover, we receive full support from the provincial governments as well as the private sector to make the event successful. This includes the recent promotion of the TIME 2006 at ATF and ITB Berlin recently,” Meity continued.

Ever since its first conduct in 1994, TIME has been successful in projecting a positive image of Indonesia, which is a destination with much variety anywhere. As Indonesia’s prime travel show, TIME 2006 accommodates the interests of those who sell Indonesia’s tourism products and services to international markets. The event will feature most of Indonesia’s tourist attractions, which include all popular tourist destinations, top tourist facilities available in the country as well as new products.

Chairman of Indonesian Tourism Promotion Board, Pontjo Sutowo, said “TIME has been organized to show our commitment to support our efforts to maintain Indonesia’s image in the international market place and continue promoting Indonesia’s tourism industry to the worldwide market.”

Attendants of TIME consist of buyers from overseas and Indonesian sellers from various travel and tourism sectors, including hotels, resorts, spas, airlines, National Tourism Offices (NTO), tour operators, travel agencies, cruise liner operators, golf operators, and many more.

TIME is listed in the tourism international calendar of events, together with ITB Berlin, WTM London, and ATM Dubai.

Buyers and sellers figures were down at last year’s TIME, with 84 buyers from 23 countries and 126 sellers from 20 provinces, as compared with 2004 figures of 102 buyers from 28 countries and 147 sellers from 20 provinces. “We are optimistic that Makassar will be able to entice more buyers and sellers to TIME this year since Makassar is the gateway to East Indonesia region which has many tourist attractions. Moreover, this year TIME is held back to back with PATA Travel Mart to achieve a greater number than last year’s TIME,” Meity added.

TIME 2006 is supported by the entire travel and tourism industry in Indonesia, including the Department of Culture and Tourism, South Sulawesi Provincial Government, South Sulawesi Tourism Board, Garuda Indonesia as Official Carrier, Gulf Air as Co-official Carrier, as well as other international air carriers operating to/from Indonesia namely Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and INACA (Indonesia National Air Carriers Association), BARINDO (Board of Airline Representatives Indonesia), ASITA (Association of the Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies), PHRI (Indonesia Hotels & Restaurants Association), and Pacto Convex as event organizer.