Ten Indonesian cities are held to be suitable for the holding of international conferences and conventions.

Iqbal Allan, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Conferences and Conventions (INCCA), says that ten Indonesian cities are considered to have the necessary facilities to host international conventions and conferences, or in the jargon of the industry, meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions (MICE), they being:

• Jakarta (western Java)
• Bandung (West Java)
• Yogyakarta (central Java)
• Surabaya (East Java)
• Bali
• Manado (North Sulawesi)
• Makassar (South Sulawesi)
• Batam (Riau)
• Medan (North Sumatra)
• Bukittinggi (West Sumatra)

In order to qualify as an international conference ready city emphasis is placed on the quality of “human resources”, particularly in the availability of trained people in the areas of public relations, marketing, protocol, and interpreting. Good infrastructure and an active local population of entrepreneurs are also factors.

Meanwhile the Overseas Promotion Director of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Tatang Rukhiyat, said at the annual Incentive Travel & Convention Meeting (IT&SMA) in Pattaya, Thailand, that the government has nominated twelve cities for potential MICE development, these being all of the above listed cities, except Bukittinggi, and with the addition of Balikpapan in Kalimantan, Padang in West Sumatra, and Semarang in Central Java.

The international conventions and trade shows industry is an extremely lucrative foreign exchange earner, believed to be five times higher than earnings from foreign tourist visits on a per person, time matched scale. An ordinary tourist spends about $80 to a $100 each day, while conference attendees are more generous witht their cash, spending on average about $450 a day.