Public Enthusiasm Soars, F1Powerboat Visitors On Lake Toba Soar 40 Percent

The 2024 F1Powerboat event on Lake Toba. Photo: Doc. InJourney

JAKARTA - The international water sports competition F1Powerboat on Lake Toba which took place on March 2-3, 2024, reaped success. The number of visitors during the two days of the event jumped by 40 percent from the previous year to around 70,000 visitors.

F1Powerboat Lake Toba 2024 has succeeded in attracting public interest because it combines international water sports events, with various performances ranging from the Solu Bolon competition, Aquabike Indonesia Championship, music festivals featuring top and local musicians such as Wali, Ada Band, and Radja, as well as the presence of an equally attractive MSME exhibition.

"InJourney would like to thank the public who are so enthusiastic about watching F1Powerboat. We also thank stakeholders who have helped organize the event so that it can take place more lively and successful. InJourney hopes that the success of F1Powerboat this time can have a positive impact on Lake Toba tourism and also the economy of the surrounding community," said Maya Watono, Director of Marketing and Tourism Program of PT Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia (Persero) or InJourney, in her statement, Monday, March 4.

The F1Powerboat of the Lake Toba 2024 Grand Prix which took place on the route of the Mulia Raja Port venue, Balige, Toba Regency, North Sumatra Province, was attended by around 17 racers from 11 countries. Racers from Sharjah Team, totalingmen, emerged as champions. While Erik Stark (SWE) from Victory Team in second place, and Jonas Andersson (SWE) from Team BAHnh Laughs "nh-Vietnam" in third place.

F1Powerboat is packed with various events that are very lively and entertaining. The opening ceremony opened with the song Indonesia Raya sung by the vocalist of ADA Band, Indra Sinaga. After that, 300 students from Toba Regency performed a really charming performance of the Batak dance. Then the visitors were made in a duel amazed by the performance of maneuvers from the Aerobatik Jupiter Team, the Air Force, which amazed and graced the Lake Toba sky.

InJourney also presented the Solu Bolon competition which was attended by 8 teams from the district around Lake Toba. Solu Bolon competition competed for a total prize of IDR 250 million. The team from North Tapanuli came out as 1st place and was entitled to a prize of IDR 100 million. The second and third place winners were won by teams from Samosir Regency and Simalungun Regency respectively. Meanwhile, Toba Regency received a favorite supporters award.

Along with F1Powerboats, Aquabike Indonesia Championship (AIC) is also held, which is a national jetski racing event. This event was attended by around 20 Indonesian racers and became an opportunity for athletes to improve their best performance, so that later they could show their achievements in the Aquabike Jetski World Championship which will be held again at Lake Toba at the end of this year. At the Menpora Cup Aquabike Indonesia Championship this time, Hilman Kurniawan emerged as the first winner after winning 1,160 points. The second position was won by Fikri Rajab, and the Boarneses Brilliant Ratag in third position.

With a variety of very interesting events, coupled with the beauty of Lake Toba, F1Powerboat has indeed become one of the most anticipated events. Since the first day the sales ticket was opened on February 19, people immediately stormed so that tickets for the grandstand category immediately sold out in 7 days.

Not only the enthusiastic community, the racers also expressed their joy to be able to compete in Lake Toba. The racers felt challenged by the track on Lake Toba and were very happy to see the high enthusiasm of the community. They can't wait to be able to compete again on Lake Toba.

The success of the 2024 F1 Powerboat is expected to have an economic impact on its implementation, even exceeding the implementation of the 2023 F1Powerboat, which is able to have an economic impact of up to IDR 1.68 trillion.

The holding of events in a number of super priority tourism destinations (DPSP), including Lake Toba, is one of InJourney's efforts to develop the tourism ecosystem in Indonesia. The existence of events is expected to be a trigger in creating sustainable tourism in Indonesia. Thus, the impact on the economy can be wider.

"The organization of events is one of the efforts to develop tourism destinations and become a catalyst to create a wide multiplier effect. However, to build a tourism destination, we need concerted effort through collaboration from various parties, from local governments, private sector, to BUMN, and this is one of the extraordinary collaborations that must continue to be sustainable," added Maya Watono.