RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - The Indonesia's government has reaffirmed its optimism about making the country a global hub for meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE). This optimism is based on Indonesia's strategic position as a tourist destination and business hub in Southeast Asia, in line with the shifting global tourism trend toward integrating business and leisure activities.

This optimism was expressed directly by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto and Minister of Tourism, Widiyanti Putri Wardhana at the opening of the Southeast Asia Business Event Forum (SEABEF) and Indonesia Business Event Mart (IBEM) 2026 in Jakarta on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.

Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana revealed that the MICE sector contributes approximately 30.75 percent of the total revenue share of the global event management market, an industry estimated to be worth US$1.2 trillion. Based on this data, Widiyanti plans to strengthen Indonesia's MICE competitiveness through several steps, including harmonizing government policies, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), developing sports and entertainment events, and improving talent quality and the ability to win bids for international events.

She added that the second focus is building a competitive, sustainable, and future-ready destination, embracing sustainability while responding to global trends. "We will focus on strengthening Southeast Asia's global position through closer regional collaboration," Widiyanti said.

She also emphasized the importance of innovation, experience, and industrial transformation as her third focus. She stated that digital technology and AI are reshaping the way the industry delivers experiences and creating greater added value throughout the MICE industry chain.

On the same occasion, Airlangga Hartarto also outlined several strategic steps to realize Indonesia as a global MICE hub. He believes the integration between business activities and leisure tourism needs to be continuously encouraged, by maximizing the development of leading destinations such as Borobudur, Prambanan, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Komodo National Park, and Lake Toba.

He also mentioned the use of AI as a crucial factor going forward, alongside strengthening the sports and religious tourism segments, which are considered to have significant potential. "This positions Indonesia well to become a global hub, especially as the market shifts toward business and leisure, through the integration of both with leading destinations and various other promising destinations," Airlangga said.

SEABEF itself is an annual regional forum in Southeast Asia that discusses developments, strategies, and collaborations in the tourism and MICE industries. Meanwhile, IBEM is the first international business-to-business (B2B) exhibition and business forum in Indonesia, bringing together MICE industry players to expand networks and global collaboration. These two forums are expected to reposition the role of events as a key driver of economic value, sustainability, and innovation, while simultaneously aligning the regional event ecosystem.