The Province of West Sumatra is located in the west coast of Sumatra Island. It has an area of 42,130.82 km². Its geographic features include plains, mountainous volcanic highlands formed by the Barisan Mountain range that runs from north-west to south-east, and an offshore islands called the Mentawai Islands. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. With Padang as the capital city, this province has excellent domestic flight access and some international route from and to Minangkabau International Airport. It takes only 1,5 hour flight from Jakarta, 1 hour from Kuala Lumpur and less than 50 minutes flight from Singapore to reach Minangkabau International Airport.

This province is very rich with beautiful natural landscape. It has wonderful lake such as Singkarak (130.1 km² asl), Maninjau (99.5 km² asl), Diatas (31.5 km² asl), Dibawah (14.0 km² asl), and Talang (5.0 km² asl). Combined with its gorgeous mountains like Marapi (2,891 m), Sago (2,271 m), Singgalang (2,877 m), Talakmau (2,912 m), Talang (2,572 m), and Tandikat (2,438 m) as well as its dazzling rivers of Kuranji, Anai, Ombilin, Suliki, Agam, Sinamar,and  Arau, it is no wonder if many people praise West Sumatra as a piece of heaven on earth.

Popularly known as the land of Minangkabau, this province is blessed with adorable cultural treasure.  The richness of Minangkabau culture is apparent from the gracefulness of their traditional dance, their impressive traditional costume, the magnificent traditional houses, and also from their delicious and very famous dish of rendang. Minangkabau culture is well preserved until now by West Sumatran people who are proud of their culture and loyal to their ancestor.

West Sumatera is also renowned as a heritage province because of its historical towns such as Sawahlunto, Padang, and Bukittinggi. These cities have been the centers of civilization since the Portuguese and Dutch colonial era. They played significant role in trading, coal and cement mining, and governance in the region at that time. Bukittinggi was even once the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia during the War of Independence. This long history of the cities account for the numerous historical buildings around the cities, which are still functioning for contemporary purposes.

With the attractions of natural landscape, traditional culture, and heritage building, West Sumatera is definitely a hot tourist destination in Indonesia. Each year, it attracts domestic and overseas visitors. The annual international events such as Tour de Singkarak and International Dragon Boat Festival are also responsible in boosting up tourist arrival in West Sumatra