Governor of West Nusa Tenggara, Muhammad Zainul Majdi, said that Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 will be taken as the momentum to boost Lombok to become wa world class tourism destination in 2012. “Our will is to make Lombok a world class tourism destination by 2012″, he said when he launched Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 in Jakarta.
Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012 will be officially declared by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono whicn will be accompanied with various supporting events such as planting pearl seeds and 5th International Ecotourism Business Forum which will bring 25 sellers from across the country to meet 20 buyers from 11 countries including UK, Germany, UAE, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, India, Hong Kong, France, Japan, and Indonesia.
Governor Majdi said that as a province rich of marine resources and beautiful beaches, the leading products which will be offered is eco-tourism including pearl farming and marine adventures in addition to culture, art, and traditional handicraft such as pottery and hand woven fabrics. “We have 15 point of interests both on the beach and the hillside”, he added.
Furthermore he expressed his confidence that Visit Lombok - Sumbawa program can generate more foreign and domestic tourists and increase popularity of the two inslands as preferable holiday destinations. “The impact we expect is getting Lombok a well known destination after Bali. In another way, after Bali, Lombok there will be Lombok which is ready to welcome tourist visits”, he said.
As a holiday destination Lombok has all people may want, scattering from the soaring mountain into deep at the bottom of the sea. Lombok is very well prepared to welcome tourists. The govenrment keeps in pushing their efforts to increase service quality as well as facilities. Various accommodation facilities are avalable, from homestay to five star hotels, event Lombok villas. International airport is underway and will be ready for inauguration soon.
The Director General of Tourism Marketing, Sapta Nirwandar, said that pearl farming will become the icon of Lombok tourism. Therfore systematic promotion is needed, started by Visit Lombok - Sumbawa 2012. “In the future Lombok will become the center for production and sales of the finest pearls in the world, it will beat Japan and Spain”, he said. At the end the program is expected to bring more tourist in. Statistic recorded visits of 450,000 tourists in 2008, and the government targets 530,000 in 2009.
