Maintaining The Euphoria Of The Mandalika Circuit Amid The Lack Of Indonesian MotoGP Promotion

A number of players in the Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia 2025 which took place on October 3-5, 2025 at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, The Mandalika area, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. (ANTARA/HO-InJourney)

JAKARTA The MotoGP world motorcycle racing event which was held at the Mandalika Circuit, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, is not just a world-class racing event, but also part of the promotion of Indonesian tourism. However, for three years it has been held, the challenges of the Mandalika MotoGP are still the same, and the issue of lack of spectators is constantly overshadowed.

The Mandalika MotoGP was first held on March 19-20, 2022. Although at the beginning of the event it managed to attract interest, now the Mandalika MotoGP motorcycle race has not heard the echo.

Until two weeks before the race, the sales of the Mandalika GP ticket only reached Rp600 million. This figure is much smaller than the same period last year, which was around Rp6 billion to Rp7 billion to two weeks before the race.

The number of Mandalika MotoGP spectators continues to surge, even this year it is the highest with a total of 140,324 spectators. This figure is up from 102,801 (2022), 102,929 (2023), and 121,251 (2024). However, in every year, the spike in ticket sales only occurred after the NTB Provincial Government gave a special discount for ASN and residents with NTB ID cards.

The Mandalika Circuit will hold MotoGP for the first time in 2022, after the same year the World Superbike or World Superbike Championships will be held.

The presence of the Mandalika MotoGP is expected to be able to revive the Lombok economy, especially Central Lombok. At the first event, around 60,000 foreign and local spectators packed the Mandalika Circuit area during the way it took place.

In addition to watching MotoGP, they also come to visit tourist attractions and culinary delights.

According to the Kompaskala Research and Development survey, the average cost allocated by MotoGP audiences while in Lombok is around Rp. 12 million per person. This amount is for MotoGP entrance tickets, plane tickets, hotels, or lodging, food and drink, local transportation, souvenir shopping, and local tourism.

In general, the biggest cost is allocated for plane tickets of around Rp. 3.5 million, hotels or lodging of Rp. 1.5 million, and tickets to watch MotoGP of Rp. 2.5 million.

The activity of audience spending during MotoGP is reflected in data on money leaving Bank Indonesia, NTB Province. Net money came out (outflow) reached IDR 326.9 billion during March 1-18, 2022. The net outflow trend has been seen since a month before the MotoGP event, which was IDR 66.6 billion in February 2022.

The implementation of the 2022 Mandalika MotoGP also has a direct economic impact on business actors. Revenue during events increases with a different range of improvement for each business category.

The most significant economic impact is felt by hotel and lodging business actors. The average occupancy rate jumped from about 50 percent to more than 75 percent, even reaching a maximum of 100 percent for the Central Lombok area. That also has not closed all required room requests. Room reservations have started two months before the event with an average stay of seven days.

However, even though his debut seemed to run smoothly, from year to year the Mandalika MotoGP event was often marked by issues of lack of interest, including this year. There are several factors that cause, ranging from high ticket prices, soaring accommodation and transportation prices, to lack of promotion.

The Indonesian Travel Agent Association (Astindo), as the full right holder to manage official tickets, admits that it only got this right in September 2025, even though tickets have been marketed since last February. As the official partner for the sale of Mandalika MotoGP tickets in the domestic and international market, Astindo noted that foreign buyers' interest is still low. Most of the viewers who have purchased tickets come from the local market, with the grandstand category being the most attractive.

In addition to technical problems in ticket management, the promotion of the 2025 Mandalika MotoGP event is also considered incomparable to similar events in neighboring countries. Another problem that causes the lack of MotoGP Mandalika is the high price of accommodation that must be paid by prospective spectators, especially the high cost of flight tickets to Lombok on weekends.

"In Sepang, Malaysia, or Formula 1 in Singapore, promotions were carried out on a large scale, and even immediately targeted Lombok. Meanwhile in Indonesia, MotoGP promotions are mostly focused in Jakarta," said Astindo Chairman Sahlan M Saleh.

To maintain the euphoria of the Mandalika MotoGP, the NTB Provincial Government took strategic steps by requiring ASN to attend the MotoGP event, complete with special ticket prices. Discounts are also given to residents with NTB ID cards.

This is not just a practical step, but also part of a strategy to revive events, stimulate local economies, and strengthen Mandalika's image as an international destination.

MotogGP Mandalika is indeed an event that strongly supports tourism in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ). However, the enthusiasm of the audience is a challenge for the organizers of the world event.

From year to year, the price of lodging and transportation accommodation during the MotoGP is many that make the audience look up. The high number of airplane tickets also burdens the audience to come to Lombok.

These two problems clearly hinder efforts to advance and enliven the Tourism SEZ.

This problem has been complained about since 2023. Nicholas Veri as an observer and race for MotoGP commentators, who stated that accommodation is a major problem for prospective spectators.

"Imagine, I stay in Mataram City which is quite far from the Mandalika Circuit, the room price per night is IDR 4.5 million from the normal price of IDR 550,000 per night," he said.

Nicholas added, it is not surprising that many MotoGP fans prefer to watch MotoGP in Sepang, Malaysia, because it is much cheaper than watching MotoGP at Mandalika.

"With a budget of Rp. 8 million, I can both watch MotoGP live in Sepang. The spending includes plane ticket prices, lodging, viewing tickets, and consumption costs during MotoGP in Sepang," said Nicholas.

Seeing this condition, there are several things that must be considered. There must be a special policy of stakeholders including the government regarding the price of airplane tickets and accommodation if you want the continuity of the Mandalika MotoGP to be watched by many fans.

In addition, massive and integrated promotions also need to be carried out, so that it can attract spectators from outside the region.