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**By APD Writer Maverick **
JAKARTA, Sept. 16 (APD) – Indonesia’s tourism video garnered two prestigious awards in a worldwide United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)-sanctioned competition, announced recently in a 22nd UNWTO General Assembly session held in Chengdu, China’s Sichuan province.
The awards received directly by Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya in the event were 2017 People’s Choice Award and 2017 UNWTO Video Competition for East Asia and the Pacific.
The two awards announced in the event that runs from Sept. 11 to 16 have made Indonesia the only nation to receive the two awards at the same time in the competition. It has made Indonesia singled out among delegations of 63 countries attending the event, the minister said.
This result is quite surprising, beyond our expectation. Internally it boosts our confidence, while externally it would bolster our credibility in tourism sector as the video has prevailed through the tight world-class assessment standards,” the minister said in a statement released on Friday.
He said the 30-second video entitled The Journey of a Wonderful World has brushed aside videos submitted by tourism giants in East Asia and Pacific region, including from New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile for the 2017 People’s Choice Awards, whose winner was resulted from votes submitted by people worldwide through the social media, the minister said that it has gathered almost 50 thousand votes that qualified it to seize the award.
I particularly thank President Joko Widodo who had invited people to vote for the video through his social media. I also thank voters from around the world that has made us this far,” the minister said, adding that the Indonesian president’s call through his social media was apparently effective as the votes drastically increased within 2X24 hours.
Indonesia has set tourism as its leading industrial sector, replacing the previous oil and gas, mining and coals sectors. The sector is expected to gain over 24 billion U.S. Dollars by 2019 as massive development is being carried out by government to address its tourism aim.
With theme song of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful World’, the Indonesian video has beautifully portrayed several prominent destinations across Indonesia comprised of Jakarta, Wakatobi, Bali, Raja Ampat, North Sumatra, Lombok, Makassar and Banyuwangi.
In line with the United Nations’ assignment to make 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, the UNWTO’s 22nd General Assembly was themed “Tourism and The Sustainable Development Goals: Journey to 2030”.
The event would devise world’s concrete actions to ensure tourism a leading contributor for the achievement of universal Sustainable Development Goals.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
