The Powerboud F1 Event On Lake Toba Costes 1.5 Million Tourists

After the press conference Usaman Kamsong took a photo along with other speakers. (IST)

JAKARTA - The opportunity for Indonesia to host the 40th F1 Powerboat World Championship in Lake Toba should be utilized optimally, especially in strengthening tourism potential. Through this event, the target of tourists targeted is 1.5 million people.

This was conveyed through Genposting's public support activity with the theme F1 Powerboat, Strengthen Lake Toba Potential Tourism organized by the Directorate of Information and Communication for the Economy and Maritime Affairs, Directorate General of IKP Kemenkominfo in Medan, North Sumatra.

The Director General of Public Information, Kemenkominfo, Usman Kansong, through a keynote speech on this occasion said that the image of Lake Toba as a tourist destination needed to be restored. First, restore starting from infrastructure.

The Central Government is very concerned and makes Lake Toba a Super Priority Tourism Destination (DPSP). The consequence is infrastructure improvements, including that there will be toll roads currently being built and Silangit Airport will accelerate travel to Lake Toba," explained Director General Usman.

In addition to the involvement of the government, the recovery of tourist destinations also requires the involvement of the local community in fixing culture that has an impact on tourism.

Improvements to the culture around Lake Toba, conveyed by the Director General, can be started by increasing the culture of serving, as implemented by people in other tourism areas such as Bali or Jogja.

"I believe if the infrastructure is addressed, then the culture will also change," he added.

In addition, activities that strengthen tourism potential also need to be held more, such as international activities F1 Powerboat Lake Toba 2023 or F1H2O. Director General Usman expressed his hope in the next two or three years, so that the foreign tours that come are more and more considering the location of Lake Toba which is close to neighboring countries.

Meanwhile, the Director of Information and Communication for the Economy and Maritime Affairs of the Ministry of Communication and Information, Septriana Tangkary, expressed support for local MSMEs that will be involved in the 2023 Lake Toba F1 event.

There will be many MSMEs that will be invited to participate. The public must be able to promote local MSME products such as powdered coffee, ulos cloth in the form of fashion products, various snacks, and souvenirs so that the 2023 Lake Toba F1 event can provide benefits directly to local communities," he said.

Septriana added that this event is seen as a potential creative collaboration to invest and do business in increasing the number of accommodation and restaurants in the Lake Toba area. Along with the estimated achievement of 1.5 million viewers of the F1 Powerboat racing event who will see Lake Toba.

The Head of the North Sumatra Provincial Communications and Information Service, Ilyas Sitorus, on this occasion also conveyed about the preparation of the local government ahead of the F1 Powerboat event on Lake Toba. In particular, it strengthens the tourism potential. "There are 1,599 hotel rooms ready to be used for this activity, including homestays and guest houses that are ready to accept visitors from the 2023 Lake Toba F1 event," said Ilyas.

The implementation of F1 Powerboat in Indonesia also brings various advantages. Assistant Deputy for Sustainable Tourism Development, Kemenkomarves, Kosmas Harefa, explained the extraordinary value of promotion to domestic and foreign tourist targets. Local entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to take advantage and open up opportunities for investors to enter.

"We want the region to be well managed in the future, so that the economic impact can be even greater every year," explained Kosmas.

Meanwhile, the SVP Marketing Communication & Tourism Program of InJourney, Retna Murti Asmoro emphasized the interesting facts about Lake Toba which will witness the 2023 F1 Powerboat Lake Toba. In addition to the fact as a volcanic lake, Lake Toba is also included in UNESCO's Global Geopark and Ulos cloth wastra craft center.

"Toba Lake is the largest volcanic lake in the world, we even positioned this event as the first powerboat champion on the largest vulnerable lake in the world, so we also position Lake Toba as a water sports tourist destination," explained Retna.

It is known that the F1 Powerboat World Championship will be held on February 24-26 2023 in the Balige Port Area, Toba Regency. It is planned that there will be 20 retailers or racers from 10 countries in this racing event.

The Ministry of Communication and Information as the Government Public Relations in the implementation of the 2023 Lake Toba F1 will play a role in preparing telecommunications infrastructure networks such as improving the internet network. Also, it plays a role in amplifying communication to the public through the involvement of various media and facilitating media centers during the event.

The hybrid Genposting event was positively welcomed by participants who were attended by young people, media partners, and bloggers. A total of 200 participants attended offline and online, both on the Zoom application and on the DJIKP YouTube channel. Through this event, it is hoped that the public can also be involved using the hashtag #SuceskanF1PowerboatLakeToba on social media, also following various information about the event on Lake Toba via the Instagram account @genposting and @F1H2O.id.