BelitongToday, Tanjungpandan – The Regent of Belitung, Sahani Saleh welcomed the arrival of 80 tourists on the National Geography (Linbland Cruise) cruise ship.
The welcoming ceremony took place at the Belitung Traditional House attended by the Regent of Belitung, forkopimda elements and cruise ship tourists, Wednesday (11/23).
Their arrival at the Belitung Traditional House was greeted with a Welcome Dance of the Sekapur Sirih Tradition.
Entering the Traditional House room, tourists are presented with the appearance of a Malay family and a bedulang meal banquet as a typical Belitung tradition.
The Regent of Belitung, Sahani Saleh, said that Belitung has now been designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark.
“Belitung has been designated as a UNESCO Global Geopark due to three factors, firstly its geodiversity, because it is the largest tin mining, secondly its biodiversity, because Belitung has many endemic flora and fauna, such as tarsiers, and thirdly we have a rich Malay culture,” he said.
He added that Belitung has many tourist attractions that hold a lot of natural wealth.
“On the other hand, Belitung Island is also a tourist spot that has a lot of natural wealth, such as 800 year old mangrove forests and beautiful beaches,” he explained.
Sanem also said that previously Belitung had hosted an international meeting and would return to host an international meeting in the near future.
“We also hosted the G20 Development Ministrial Meeting last September, and next December we will again host the World Ocean Assessment which involves 22 countries,” he said.
He added that the international meeting which will be held in the near future to demonstrate maritime wealth in Belitung is the 2022 World Ocean Assessment (WOA).
“The upcoming WOA meeting will discuss Belitung’s marine wealth, through the Maritime Museum that we built,” he stated. (Mg1)
