The F1 Powerboat Is Believed To Be Able To Bring Blate Lake Toba Sejajar With Manaco And Abu Dhabi

Deputy Minister of BUMN II, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) believes that the implementation of the F1 Powerboat held by InJourney will further raise the name of Indonesia, especially Lake Toba as one of the world's class tourism destinations.

As is known, this motorboat race will be held in Balige, Lake Toba, North Sumatra on February 25 to 26, 2023.

Deputy Minister of BUMN II, Kartika Wirjoatmodjo believes that Balige will advance to class in line with Monaco and Abu Dhabi, who previously also hosted the F1 Powerboat.

"So the events that usually exist in places where classes are like Monaco or Abu Dhabi, are now in Bige," he said when met at the InJourney Office, Sarinah, Jakarta, Tuesday, February 14.

Therefore, Tiko as Kartika is familiarly called hopes that Lake Toba, especially Balige, can become as famous as Monaco and Abu Dhabi so that tourist visits in the future will be more crowded.

"Hopefully this can really increase awareness and tourist visits to North Sumatra, especially Lake Toba and Samosir," he said.

Tiko emphasized that the government really wants to make Indonesia not only known for tourism on the island of Bali. Moreover, Indonesian tourism is considered still inferior to other neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.

"We, during the pre-COVID-19 period, in Southeast Asia alone, we are still number 5 (as a favorite destination for foreign tourists). So hopefully, after COVID-19 and in the future, we can at least number 2, "he said.

Meanwhile, InJourney's Director of Marketing and Tourism Program, Maya Watono, revealed that the interest of people who want to watch the implementation of the Powerboat F1 is very high, which can be seen from online ticket sales.

Of the tickets that were sold out or sold out on February 7, 2023, most were purchased by tourists from Jabodetabek and also Sumatra Island.

To accommodate the wishes of the public who wish to witness firsthand the water boat race, Maya said InJourney would reopen ticket sales offline.

"Furthermore, we will also reopen ticket sales on February 15, 2023 for a viewing spot located on Bukit Pahoda with a very beautiful view. This ticket can be purchased offline in Balige at a price of IDR 50,000," he said.