A country who has been recognized globally as having such a natural capital, Indonesia has become an icon for world sport tourism. Moreover, there are many international sports events that consider Indonesia as a worthy site for being a host for the event.

The rapid development of the growing popularity in sport tourism is a good start for Indonesia. Sport tourism certainly has a significant impact in developing tourism and the creative economy in Indonesia.

Besides that, sport tourism is also one of the ways to gain more international tourists to come and visit Indonesia, along with the target of around 7.4 million foreign tourists coming to this country. Therefore, sport tourism is going to be a moment of revival for the tourism sector and creative economy.

There are at least four out of a hundred of sport tourism events which have been considered as priority according to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency (Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf).

These are top 4 priority of sport tourism events by Kemenparekraf/Baparekraf:

F1 Powerboat Lake Toba

Indonesia successfully held the F1 Powerboat on February 24-26, 2023. F1 Powerboat is the Formula 1 Powerboat World Championship which has been held at the Super Priority Destination (DSP), Lake Toba, North Sumatra. 

This global super boat racing event has been taken part by a dozen of potential boat racers who usually ride the boat with the speed over 220 km/hour. This boat racing is surely different from the “usual” boat racing. It is because the boat racers must conquer a track 2.2 km long which has the form of Lake Toba (a crater lake), in order to achieve the title of global boat racing championship. 

FIFA World Cup U-20

Another sport tourism events which will also take place in Indonesia is FIFA World Cup U-20. According to the schedule, the event will be held on May 20 to June 14, 2023.

One of the things that has been carried out by the committee for preparing FIFA World Cup U-20 is improving the quality of grass in a given soccer stadium which will be used for the competition. The committee also carried out renovation on the building and managing waste problems, particularly in Surabaya to get rid of the unwanted odor. 

According to the plan, there will be six stadiums where it will be used as venues for FIFA World Cup U-20: Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta), Si Jalak Harupat Stadium (Bandung), Manahan Stadium (Solo), Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (Surabaya), Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium (Bali), and Jakabaring Stadium (Palembang). 

Illustration: The excitement of the ANOC World Beach Games (anocolympic.org)

ANOC World Beach Games

Indonesia will also host ANOC World Beach Games (AWBG) this year. This event is commonly known as a global multi-sport event which is considered to be the third largest event after the Summer and Winter Olympic games.

These water game events will be held in Bali in the upcoming month of August 5-12, 2023. Around 130 countries throughout the world will participate in the ANOC World Beach Games 2023, together with the General Assembly ANOC which will be attended by 205 countries on August 13-15, 2023.

A thousand athletes will play in 14 sports, including: aquathlon, beach handball, beach soccer, beach tennis, 4x4 beach volleyball, beach water polo, beach wrestling, kitesurfing, and many more. 

FIBA World Cup

The next international sport tourism event will be held in Indonesia is the 2023 FIBA World Cup. This event will be held from August 25 to September 20, 2023, in Indoor Multifunction Stadium (IMS), Gelora Bung Karno area, Jakarta. 

To welcome the eight countries competing for the FIBA World Championship title, various preparations have been made. Especially in preparing the venue to meet FIBA standards. Such as preparing the venue, tending the player room, media facilities, as well as match layouts. 

So, let's see the excitement of world class athletes in various sport tourism events that are held in Indonesia, Sobat Parekraf!

Cover: Illustration of the football match of the Indonesian national team (Shutterstock/Ratno Prasetyo)