A

fter successfully conducting the annual cycling event Tour De Singkarak, the government is set to make another breakthrough in the sports tourism sector by holding the Jakarta Marathon in October this year.

Jakarta Marathon 2013 is going to be the biggest marathon event in Indonesia and it is expected to draw more international tourists, particularly those who have a passion for this sport.

'€œWe picked the marathon because it has one of the largest communities in the world and it does not need a lot of infrastructure. In addition to that, it is a popular sport among all people and it is quite easy to hold,'€ Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry'€™s meeting, incentives, convention, exhibition (MICE) and special interest tourism director Rizki Handayani told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview, adding that the event would be conducted on Oct. 27.

She said the fact that people are now getting more aware of health issues meant the government could market it more easily.

The ministry picked the capital city rather than the exotic Bali for this new event because it is a 486 year-old city that has a lot of history as well as being a melting pot of cultures in Indonesia.

'€œWe plan to make Jakarta Marathon an annual event and we expect it can be one of the world'€™s major marathon events in the next five years,'€ Rizki said.

The Boston Marathon, Paris Marathon, New York Marathon, Barcelona Marathon and Chicago Marathon are currently the world'€™s top five marathon events and each attracts between 30,000 to 60,000 participants from across the globe. In Asia, the Tokyo Marathon in Japan tops every marathon event in the region.

The government was optimistic that the capital city would become an important new point for the event because it offers great attractions to the participants as they will be passing through some of the city'€™s most historical sites including Southeast Asia'€™s largest mosque Istiqlal, the Cathedral Church, National Monument, the Old Town and Gelora Bung Karno.

In a bid to attract a lot of participants, both international and domestic, the Jakarta Marathon will offer a number of categories: a full marathon of 42 kilometers, a half marathon, a 10 kilometer and 5 kilometer run, and a children'€™s sprint.

Rizki said the event would contribute hugely to the tourism sector. Hotel occupancy rates will increase and the creative economy sectors such as culinary, crafts, advertising, fashion and video will enjoy growth during the event.

Jakarta is currently rebranding Jakarta to develop tourism.

Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo said on Sunday that he had given an order to the Jakarta Development Planning Board and the Jakarta Spatial Agency to determine the '€œbrand'€ that could sell the city.

'€œIf this city is a product then we have to know its positioning, how to rebrand it and what kind of promotion to best sell it. When we talk about Paris, we think of it as the city of fashion. Now, what do we want Jakarta to be?,'€ he said as quoted by kompas.com while in his hometown in Surakarta, Central Java.

He also said that the administration will procure five double-decker buses to carry tourists to sites such as the Old Town and Ancol beach.

'€œThe buses will operate in October,'€ he said.