REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- Some 40 foreign yachts with over 150 crew members on board, are expected to travel to several islands and town in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), for one month.

They would first make a stopover in Kupang for three days beginning July 27, Eden Klakik, head of the promotion unit of the East Nusa Tenggara tourism and cultural office, said here, Saturday.

The Kupang municipality will organize a cultural festival to welcome the foreign tourists, at Kopan Beach located in La Lais Besi Kopan area.

Traditional sports and children's games will also be organized to entertain the foreign tourists.

At the end of their stay in NTT, they will gather in Labuan Bajo, a famous tourist resort in NTT, in late August, and later proceed their journey for the Sail Indonesia 2016, an annual international maritime event organized by the Indonesian Government.

Sail Indonesia this year is called Sail Karimata Strait 2016 and will involve four provinces located on Kalimantan and Sumatra Islands: West Kalimantan, Jambi, Bangka Belitung, and Riau Islands.

Its peak event will be held in North Kayong District, West Kalimantan, on October 15 and is expected to be officially kicked off by President Joko Widodo.

The Sail Karimata Strait event will be held for the eighth time since Sail Indonesia was first organized in 2009.

The previous sail events are Sail Bunaken held in North Sulawesi in 2009, Sail Banda in Maluku in 2010, Sail Wakatobi-Belitung in Southeast Sulawesi and Bangka Balitung in 2011, Sail Morotai in North Maluku in 2012, Sail Komodo in East Nusa Tenggara in 2013, Sail Raja Ampat in West Papua in 2014, and Sail Tomini held in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Gorontalo in 2015.

A series of activities to welcome the Sail Karimata Strait, however, will begin on June 1, Safri Burhanuddin, deputy IV of the coordinating minister of maritime affairs, stated during a coordination meeting on the event held recently in Jakarta.

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