TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 18 yachts have arrived on Ohoi beach, Debut village, Southeast Maluku District, Maluku Province, on Saturday evening, for Wonderful Sail to Indonesia (WSI) international maritime event.

"Ohoi beach in Debut Village is the gate for international yachters to enter Indonesia," M Teslatu, chairman of the Southeast Maluku WSI organizing committee, said.

Some 150 yachts are expected to participate in the 2019 Wonderful Sail to Indonesia.

"This is the largest number of the WSI participants so far," he remarked.

Southeast Maluku is the place where the participating yachts will make the longest stopover in Indonesia during the 2019 WSI.

Southeast Maluku District Head M Thaher Hanubun said his district and local inhabitants are ready to make the Wonderful Sail to Indonesia a success.

He hoped that the international maritime event would help promote Southeast Maluku tourist destinations and improve the local people's economy. In the meantime, Nias Island, located in North Sumatra Province and often considered the best kept secret of Indonesians, will be unveiled to the world at an international maritime event to be organized from July until September 2019.

Sail Nias, the 11th series of Sail Indonesia, will be opened at a ceremony in Teluk Dalam (Bay), South Nias, on September 14, 2019. Sail Indonesia is part of plans to accelerate the development of underdeveloped regions in Indonesia.

Various activities will be organized during the event, including Wonderful Nias Expo 2019, an international surfing contest, a battleship parade, Nias Marathon, a culinary bazaar, and traditional art and cultural performances.

Other activities will include Wind Surfing and Sailing Contests, Free Diving Competition, Stone Jump Festival, Traditional Fishing Boat Parade, Coffee Festival, Fishing Tournament, Wonderful Tourism Photo Expo, One Thousand Tents Festival, and the Mt Sitori cultural seminar.

At least 100 thousand Indonesian and foreign tourists are expected to come for Sail Nias 2019, whose main activities will be held from September 10 to 14, according to Hidayati, head of the North Sumatra tourism office.

ANTARA