Boosting Regional Economy, Bali Provincial Government Working On Sports Tourism

A total of 13,899 participants participated in the Maybank Marathon 2023 in Gianyar Regency, Bali, Sunday (27/8/2023) ANTARA

GIANYAR - The Bali Provincial Government is working on sports tourism to boost the regional economy because it has a great opportunity to attract investment and public spending.

"This sports tourism promises that we will continue to develop it," said Deputy Governor of Bali Cokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati when releasing Maybank Marathon 2023 participants, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, August 27.

He assessed that the implementation of football competitions, marathons and other sports was not only related to the development of sports but also had a direct economic impact.

The reason is that every sporting event held in a location will be followed by a follow-up program, including a tourist program.

That way, he continued, hotels, transportation services, printing, eating and drinking businesses will also be splashed with fortune from sports tourism which will bring in thousands of participants in one day of implementation.

The sports tourism, he continued, is also supported by complete access to transportation to Bali and other facilities available, including hotel rooms reaching up to around 130 thousand rooms.

The number of rooms, added the Deputy Governor of Bali, who is familiarly called Cok Ace, is estimated to increase from the previous 120 thousand rooms.

The reason, he continued, was that some entrepreneurs took advantage of opportunities when the COVID-19 pandemic expanded the capacity of lodging.

"The impact is big, now with the Maybank marathon, hotels in Sanur are full so there is a lot of economic turnover," he said.

Not only from the hotel side, several improvements to sports facilities were also carried out by renovating stadiums in Bali which were also supported by the Central Government's budget.

The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) previously budgeted Rp152.9 billion for the renovation of the Captain I Wayan Dipta Stadium in Gianyar, Bali and four training fields.

Not to mention there are international hospitals, namely International Bali which was built in the Special Economic Zone (KEK) for Health in Sanur, Denpasar is also expected to be an attraction for medical tourism.

"The impact is big because of course there is a circulation of money, considering that not 100 percent of sports but also they have the potential to extend visits to Bali and travel with their families," he said.

Based on data from the Bali Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of foreign tourist visits in Bali during 2022 reached 2.1 million, an increase significantly after restrictions due to COVID-19 were relaxed because during 2021 there were only 51 visits.

Meanwhile, in 2019, the number of foreign tourists to Bali reached 6.3 million people.