Tourists enjoy the sun at a beach club in Bali on May 6. The Indonesian island, known for its pristine beaches, will host the G20 summit in November. [Photo/Agencies]
G20 Host Indonesia Seeks Benefits From World Leaders Meeting
As Indonesia is hard at work rebuilding its tourism industry, expectations are high that the country’s hosting of a major international forum this year will help showcase its sights to visitors.
World leaders will gather on the resort island of Bali for the G20 summit in November, and Indonesian officials hope international media attention to the event will bring additional benefits to tourism.
The host country authorities expect the summit, which brought together leaders of the 20 largest economies, to launch initiatives to support the pandemic-hit domestic economy and stimulate other countries in the region and beyond in the wake of the devastation caused by COVID-19.
Indonesia, which currently chairs the G20, will host the summit in Nusa Dua, southeast of the provincial capital of Denpasar, on November 15-16. The event will be held under the motto “Get well together, get well stronger.”
“The G20 summit will help restore the confidence of tourists in Bali. We are now fully prepared to receive visitors,” said Yi Putu Winastra, chairman of the Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agencies.
Winastra said that G20 delegates and side events attendees will not only attend meetings in Nusa Dua, home to Bali’s most prestigious hotels and convention centers, but they will also likely spend time exploring and getting to know the various venues.
According to Bali-born Winastra, Bali people, including those living in rural areas, always welcome world-class meetings on the island, as they believe that such events will boost their business.
On the eve of the summit, ministerial meetings and conferences of working groups and interaction groups are held throughout the year in Bali and other provinces of Indonesia.
Since the beginning of this year, a series of G20 meetings and side events have taken place in Bali and elsewhere. A total of 150 G20 meetings are scheduled for up to 5,800 people, Indonesia’s Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto said.
In May alone, 35 meetings took place in Bali and elsewhere. In mid-May, Labuan Bajo, the gateway to Komodo National Park, hosted the 1st Tourism Working Group 2022 meeting. Home to the world’s largest lizards, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Indonesia.
Bali will host the 2nd meeting of the Indonesian G20 Tourism Working Group on July 28-29, coinciding with an expected surge in foreign tourists during the European summer holiday season, Winastra said.
Foreign tourists arriving in Bali rose to around 14,600 in March from 1,310 in February. March numbers were the highest in two years, according to the Indonesian Central Bureau.
