Antara News, Sat, June 11 2011
Sail Indonesia 2011 which will make Kupang as the entrance to the other regions in Indonesia will focus on areas that have not yet been visited.
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| Sail Indonesia (ANTARA/istimewa) |
Kupang, E.Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - As many as 22 countries have confirmed their plans to participate in Sail Indonesia 2011 that was officially launched in Jakarta a few days ago, a local marine official said.
The number of participants has increased compared to Sail Indonesia 2010 when only 15 countries took part, the chairman of Cinta Bahari Indonesia Foundation (YCBI), Raymond T. Lesmana, said here Saturday.
"There are more participants for Sail Indonesia 2011 than last year. If in 2010 there were only 15 countries, now the number has increased to 22," he said.
According to Raymond, the Sail Indonesia participants were scheduled to depart from Darwin, Australia, on July 23 and expected to arrive in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara`s provincial capital, on July 27 to 28.
The participants will be in Kupang for a week before they sail on to Alor, Rote Ndao, Sabu Raijua, Lembata, Ende and Labuan Bajo districts on Flores Island and elsewhere in Indonesia.
"We expect the participants will be in East Nusa Tenggara province about a month because there are a number of such new areas to be visited by the participants as Sabu Raijua and Rote Ndao," Raymond said.
He said, the foundation is coordinating with several district administrations, especially the new area ones that will be stop off to perform a variety of preparations.
In addition, Sail Indonesia 2011 which will make Kupang as the entrance to the other regions in Indonesia will focus on areas that have not yet been visited.
The regions are Ndao Rote, Sabu Raijua to Sumba island which have been less had the opportunity to stop off by the Sail Indonesia participants.
"In previous years, the transit route is always monotonous namely the northbound lane through the East Flores to West Flores. Now we are trying to open new destinations," Raymond noted.
The new areas to be visited is located on the southern route which has been less a promotion, he added.
Editor: Ella Syafputri
