TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Pangestu has launched the Hallo Sultra program in her latest bid to promote Southeast Sulawesi's tourism.

“This is to celebrate Southeast Sulawesi’s 50th anniversary on April 27, 2014. There will be big events in Kendari, and some activities will kick off on April 21,” Mari said on Friday.

Mari said Southeast Sulawesi has exceptional tourism potentials, such as diving, culture, and history. “I’ve dived in Buton and Wakatobi. They were amazing,” Mari said.

He added among the tourism potentials in Buton and Wakatobi were Buton Fort from the Buton Sultanate, gold and silver, world-class diving in Wakatobi, culinary, and weaving.

According to Southeast Sulawesi Governor Nur Alam, the province could become the future of Indonesia’s tourism. “The eastern region is showing off its cultural uniqueness,” he said.

He added that activities involving locals would be organized from April 21 to the peak of the event on April 27. “And a meeting between representatives of national cultures from the 34 provinces in Indonesia,” he said.

Nur Alam said the province’s tourism sector was on the rise as some tourism spots had become even more famous, such as Muna Island with its horse fights and the Lambusango natural tourism, in which the US was currently studying one of its bacteria. “And silver and gold industries that have been preserved well since the colonial era,” said Nur Alam.

EVIETA FADJAR