Ambon - Maluku-born people in the Netherlands are ready to support the international marine event "Sail Banda 2010" in Maluku by intensively promoting it in European countries, a local tourism official said.

    "At least 350 Moluccans in the Netherlands have expressed their readiness to intensively promote the coming event in Holland and other European countries," head of Maluku`s Culture and Tourism Office, Florence Sahusilawane, said here on Wednesday.

    Florence said the expatriate Maluku people had expressed their readiness to her when she attended the Dutch tourism event, "Vakantiebeurs" in Utrecht, the Netherlands, last January 12-17, 2010.

    "The most important thing in their support to Sail Banda 2010 is that they will also come to Maluku along with their relatives, Dutch friends, and other colleagues from Europe for the event scheduled for July to August 2010," she said.

     Florence added that she highly appreciated the seriousness of Moluccans in the Netherlands to help make Sail Banda 2010 a success because it would be a strategic event to assure the international community that peace and calm have returned to Maluku after the province was engulfed by a communal conflict from 1999 to 2002.

     "We actually want the Netherlands to be the gateway for netting West European tourists who increasingly visit Maluku every year," Florence said.

     She was also optimistic about the promotion of Sail Banda in Europe because the Maluku Museum director in the Netherlands, Dr Huib Akihary, had expressed readiness to help promote the event in European countries.

     "Therefore, leaflets on Sail Banda in Dutch and English will be spread large and wide in the Netherlands and other European countries," Florence said.

     She said the Maluku Culture and Tourism office had been intensively promoting Sail Banda 2010 through brochures, leaflets, both print and electronic media, including its website www.sailbanda.com .

     "We have also made use of various events such as the observance of World Peace Day on November 25, 2009 and the election of tourism ambassadors on December 1-6, 2009 to promote Sail Banda 2010," she said..

-Antara, 28 January 2010-