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Riau Islands seeks to become sports tourism destination
Among the sports events held in Riau Islands are Tour de Beleirang, Bintan Triathlon and Tour de Bintan.
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Traditional water transportation at Bintan. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he sports event Nongsa Challenge 2017 held on Aug. 27 in Batam, Riau Islands, showed a great partnership between the provincial administration and Tourism Ministry.
“Held for the third time, this year's event [was supported by] the Tourism Ministry,” said Sumantri Endang, the general manager of Turi Beach by Nongsa Resort, where the event took place. “For next year, we aim to make the participants stay longer and to bring their family to explore Batam."
Riau Islands Tourism Agency head Boeralimar said the agency seeks to achieve the ministry’s target of 15 million foreign tourists in 2017 and 20 million foreign tourists in 2019.
Read also: A letter from culturally rich Jambi
Among the sports events held in Riau Islands are Tour de Beleirang, Bintan Triathlon and Tour de Bintan.
The ministry's Archipelago Tourism Marketing Development deputy Esthy Reko Astuti said that Indonesia has a huge opportunity to develop its sports tourism.
The country is set to host 2018 Asian Games in August.
“There are so many studies discussing about the short- and long-term correlation between a sports event with the economic growth of a region or country, especially when it comes to infrastructure development and employment opportunities. Sports tourism has a huge impact,” said Esthy. (kes)
