The 20th National Sports Week (PON) in Papua has encouraged revival of the creative economy in Merauke, Papua, through the exhibition of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), a Merauke District Tourism Office official stated.

“The (MSMEs) exhibition became the starting point for the revival of the creative economy. For almost two years, people working in the creative economy sector have been affected by the pandemic,” Acting Head of the Merauke District Tourism Office Benhur Rentandatu said as quoted by InfoPublik, Thursday.

He assessed that the exhibition was relatively successful since the financial transactions totaled Rp495 million.

This figure was derived through in-depth calculations by the tourism office, with components comprising the amount of average income per day that reaches Rp1,375,000, the number of exhibition days (9 days), and the number of partaking MSMEs reaching 40.

According to Rentandatu, Papua PON has attracted several people across the country to visit Papua. Hence, it becomes an opportunity for MSMEs in the province, especially in Merauke, to revive after being hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In maintaining the sustainability of creative economic activities in Merauke, the Tourism Office of Merauke District has formulated various adequate strategies.

He elaborated that the first strategy aims to forge cooperation with managers of tourism sites around Merauke. Thus, the flagship products of creative economy players can be exhibited in those tourism sites and have a higher likelihood of being sold.

The second strategy pertains to holding an MSMEs exhibition regularly on an annual basis to provide a place for creative economy players in Merauke to remain active, he stated.

Highlighting the third approach, Rentandatu said his party conducts mapping related to the flagship products of certain regions. The selected products should have unique characteristics that can draw the attention of people from across the country, he noted.

“Those three strategies should be implemented continuously, so that creative economy players can continue to sell their products even without an event,” he remarked.

The 20th PON is being held on October 2-15, 2021. At least 6,400 athletes and 3,500 officials from 34 provinces across Indonesia are participating in the National Games that feature 37 sports.

Source: Antara News