Quick To Prepare Lodging, Sandiaga Uno Predicts That The Mandalika MotoGP Will Attract 100 Thousand Tourists

SiriKit Mandalika (Twitter/@MotoGP

JAKARTA - Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno predicts foreign and domestic tourist visits during the Mandalika MotoGP event will reach 100 thousand people.

He said the potential for the visit exceeds the total accommodation capacity available on the island of Lombok, NTB.

"Hotel and lodging accommodations in Lombok destinations are only 23,000 units as of December 2021. The data we have collected from hotel associations in Mataram, 90 percent of rooms have been reserved for MotoGP," said Sandiaga at a press conference, Monday, January 10.

Sandiaga said the majority of tourists came from within the country. Meanwhile, 50 percent are likely to be tourists from NTB, so the current lack of accommodation is not a problem.

Furthermore, Sandiaga said that there were 2,758 hotel rooms registered with the association in Mataram, which is the capital of NTB.

Then, the hotel occupancy rate will certainly reach 100 percent at the MotoGP event which takes place on March 18-20 2022 at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit.

Seeing the high potential for these visits, Sandiaga encouraged that the tourism residential facilities built by the Ministry of PUPR could be completed immediately and could accommodate tourist visits.

"There are 300 residential facilities or homestays that are being certified by CHSE," he said.

The former Deputy Governor of DKI Jakarta added that the collaboration between the circuit manager with Boboxbox and Eiger was also established to support glamping facilities in the Mandalika area.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transportation has also accommodated the preparation of ships owned by PT Pelni and the private sector to become lodging places.

"In Bali, there are also many hotel rooms that can accommodate. Lombok-Bali flights in one tour package have also been prepared so that they can accommodate tourist visitors," he said.

Sandiaga also ensured that the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy together with the Bali Provincial Government and ITDC as the manager of Mandalika would optimally prepare the prestigious world motorcycle racing event. Because, the event will greatly support the recovery of national tourism this year.

On the one hand, local products developed by MSMEs also have the opportunity to take advantage of the market potential arising from the movement of tourists in Lombok.

Previously, PT Pembangunan Wisata Indonesia (Persero) or ITDC had opened ticket sales counters, namely for the premium class grandstand with 22,056 tickets, premiere class with 900 tickets and deluxe class 2,000 tickets.

Premiere class ticket sales, which cost Rp. 15 million per seat, were sold out in just a few hours after the sales counter opened.