APG a momentum to promote Surakarta's tourism

Surakarta, Central Java (ANTARA) - The 2022 ASEAN Para Games (APG) offers momentum to bolster the promotion of tourism and culture of Surakarta, the host of the games, to the Southeast Asian level, the Surakarta Regional Tourism Promotion Agency stated. "The ASEAN Para Games is a momentum to introduce the culture and tourism of Surakarta City," the agency head, Retno Wulandari, stated here, Friday.

Wulandari noted that the ASEAN Para Games opening ceremony that showcased various arts and crafts of Surakarta was an opportunity to promote the city and invite Southeast Asian tourists to visit the city after the conclusion of the games.

The 2022 APG also offers the momentum to promote Surakarta as a disabled-friendly city, as all facilities in the city, such as hotels, restaurants, and tourism attractions, have come with special facilities to cater to tourists with disabilities, the agency head noted. "As a disabled-friendly city, we need to promote our city to the international community," Wulandari emphasized.

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She encouraged stakeholders in the Surakarta tourism sector to make the most of the momentum offered by the 2022 APG to provide optimal services for all national contingents participating in the games. First-class service to para-athletes will ensure that they would return to Surakarta to enjoy the city in the future, she affirmed. "Hotels and restaurants must exert (efforts) to provide utmost service quality to attract more tourists to return (to Surakarta)," the agency head remarked.

Meanwhile, Surakarta Cultural and Tourism Office's Tourism Destination and Marketing Department Head Gembong Hadi Wibowo expressed confidence that the 2022 ASEAN Para Games would boost the number of visits of domestic and international tourists to Surakarta. The visits of tourists to Surakarta will reinvigorate the city's tourism industry that has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, he affirmed.