Selangor - Batam to Boost Tourism Ties

(L-R) from second-left Exco Tourism Selangor Y.B Puan Gan Pei Nei, Director for MICE and Special Interest Promotion at the Ministry for Indonesia Tourism  Ibu Rizki Handayani Mustafa; the Head of Tourism of Riau Islands Province Bapak Guntur Sakti; dan General Manager of Selangor Tourism Pn. Noorul Ashikin bte Mohd Din.

Tourism Selangor (TSSB) together with Indonesia Ministry of Tourism and Batam View Beach Resort connects businesses from the state of Selangor and Indonesia in a B2B Table Top discussion.

Held at the Batam View Beach Resort, the programme starting from 15 to 17 November is headed by YB Madam Gan Pei Nei, Deputy Chairman of Selangor’s Committee of Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs.

The event at the famous Batam Island provides 17 participants that came from various travel agencies, government agencies, hoteliers, health and wellness operators, and education sections in Selangor (sellers) to connect with travel industry associates from Indonesia (buyers). Each seller will be give one presentation slot for a total of five minutes to give to the tourism agencies present at the event.

Tourism Selangor has arranged three sessions for the business event – including a Government to Goverment (G to G) Table Talk session with Tourism Indonesia about the direction and goals of tourism between Selangor and Indonesia. The event’s highlight is the B2B Table Top between Selangor and Indonesia’s tourism agencies and a visit around Batam Island as part of the tourism product. 

Some of the key persons attending from Indonesia Tourism are Ibu Rizky Handayani, Director for MICE and Special Interest Promotion at the Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economy, Bapak Guntur Sakti, the Head of Tourism of Riau Islands Province, and stakeholders in hospitality industry such as resorts, aviation, golf courses and travel agents.

The three day B2B Table Top event include business minded individuals of various companies from Aceh, Western Sumatra, Riau Islands, Jakarta, and Jogjakarta.

“Selangor’s tourism industry still has a lot of potential for development and can be explored even further, particularly with our counterparts here in Indonesia.  In our quest to be an active and thriving tourism industry, we at Tourism Selangor and the Selangor government are supportive of all efforts by our local industry players to develop the attractive products available at our home,” said YB Madam Gan Pei Nei, Deputy Chairman of Selangor’s Committee of Tourism, Environment, Green Technology and Consumer Affairs.

B2B session between Selnagor and Indonesia in Bunga Mawar Room, Batam View Beach Resort

The three-day visitation was filled with trails of programs. On the first day the Selangor delegation visited some of the tourism hot-spots in Batam, such as Destination Nongsa, Golden City in Bengkong area, and Megamall in Batam Centre.

With at least 1,4 million foreign visitors, Batam Island is a promising destination for Malaysian market. Its strategic location next to the neighboring busy Singapore are very accessible, with 4 international ferry ports and one international airport made the island Indonesia's third largest contributor for foreign tourist, after Bali and Jakarta.

The meeting was also aimed to introduce Batam Island to Malaysian market, get them up close and experience the attractions it offers, from shopping, golf-destination, resort, among many. It was expected to start increasing the traffic between Selangor and Batam, besides the direct flight that connected them ease and catalyze growth in the near future.