A change of route has been made prior to the Tour de Flores (TdF) 2017 that will begin on July 14 until 19.

“We’ve received confirmation that TdF [route] is being extended from 661.5 kilometers to 808 kilometers due to an additional new route from Aegela to Mbay City, Nagekeo regency,” said tourism ministry's archipelago tourism marketing development deputy, Esthy Reko Astuti.

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The TdF 2017 itself was initially scheduled to be held on May 9 until 14 but had been pushed back to July due to preparation and route construction.

TdF is hoped to catch the world's attention, especially to the Mbay city in Nagekeo regency at Ril Taa, the island with its white and pink sands. The island is one of East Nusa Tenggara tourism assets. 

Tourism minister, Arief Yahya wishes TdF participants luck and hopes for them to enjoy the beauty of Flores. "We want to show the world that Indonesia is a very safe place to hold international-scale events as it has already proven by large events such as Tour de Ijen Banyuwangi, Tour de Singkarak West Sumatra et cetera," he said.

At press time, 13 teams and more than 100 people have signed up for the event, coming from different parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Japan, South Korea, China, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia. (asw)

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