VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

BUMN holdings met at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment office - 

Voinews, Jakarta - Tourism BUMN Holding and its supporters, PT Aviasi Wisata Indonesia (Persero) or InJourney will again present the F1Powerboat international motorboat racing event on March 2-3 2024 on Lake Toba. By presenting various events, InJourney is ready to repeat the success of F1Powerboat 2023. It is hoped that F1Powerboat 2024 will provide an even greater multiplier effect considering that last year it had an economic impact of up to IDR 391 billion.

F1Powerboat 2024 on Lake Toba is planned to be held in Balige, Toba Regency, North Sumatra. A total of 18 international racers from around 10 countries will take part in F1Powerboat on Lake Toba.

In order to enliven F1Powerboat, InJourney will present a side event that is no less lively. This time, InJourney will present the Solu Bolon competition between North Sumatra districts and also the First Aquabike Indonesian Championship Series competition which will be attended by approximately 30 Indonesian jetski athletes. Apart from that, the side event will also present a cultural and MSME festival from February 29 to March 3 2024.

"We are collaborating with all parties to jointly encourage the potential of Lake Toba as one of the 5 Super Priority Tourism Destinations (DPSP) to continue to be recognized on the international stage. "One of the efforts to encourage the tourism sector on Lake Toba is to make it water sport tourism," said the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan during the F1Powerboat Press Conference (07/02).

He added that holding international scale events is a motor and catalyst for the region in carrying out promotions so that in the end it will create an extraordinary multiplier effect for the economic growth of the surrounding community. "We are grateful that by holding two international events on Lake Toba, namely the F1Powerboat and the Aquabike Jetski World Championship, the name of Lake Toba has come alive again. "The extraordinary exposure has made Lake Toba included in the New York Times list of must-visit destinations," added Luhut.

Present at the press conference, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno. He said that the Government had invested heavily in 5 DPSPs, so sustainable events were needed to continue to increase tourist traffic. "The presence of the F1Powerboat event has been proven to stimulate the community's economy and also become a forum for MSMEs to develop their businesses to become bigger. The implementation of F1Powerboat last year had an economic impact of up to IDR 391 billion. "We hope that this year's F1Powerboat can have a bigger economic impact than last year," said Sandiaga.

Sandiaga added that in 2023 the number of foreign tourist visits to Indonesia will increase to 11.7 million. This increase is also supported by interesting and high-quality events, one of which is F1Powerboat.

On the same occasion, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Dito Ariotedjo, expressed his pride in the enthusiasm of residents around Lake Toba at previous international events, especially the 2023 Aquabike Jetski World Championship which was able to attract up to 200,000 visitors. This shows the potential for water sports tourism in Indonesia to become a special attraction for the community.

"I am also grateful for the extraordinary collaboration, especially in this event, apart from the international motorboat racing event, there is also a jetski racing competition which will be participated in by our national athletes, as well as a Solu Bolon racing which will be participated in by local residents of North Sumatra. "This event is very interesting and has the potential for us to bring back Indonesian local heroes, especially for water sports events." Dito said.

Dito added that with the launch of water sports events on Lake Toba, the government will prepare a special academy to educate athletes so they can compete in international championships such as the F1Powerboat and Aquabike Jetski World Championship.

Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, Deputy Minister of BUMN also expressed his pride in Lake Toba because this international sporting event can gain very high coverage. He hopes that in the future tourist traffic will continue to increase in all 5 DPSPs. "The extraordinary support cannot be separated from the synergy of BUMN which also makes full efforts to support increasing tourist traffic," added Tiko.

“InJourney, which in 2023 successfully held F1Powerboat, is preparing again to make the event a success. Through various programs and events at F1Powerboat, InJourney will present water sport tourism which will attract many tourists. "We hope that this event will be held more successfully, thereby providing an even greater multiplier effect," said InJourney's Main Director, Dony Oskaria.

Dony explained that in developing tourism, InJourney does it comprehensively, one of which is by ensuring that holding an event can have an extraordinary economic impact on the community, both directly and indirectly. Apart from that, by holding a global scale event, Indonesia gets high media exposure on the international stage. "The main thing is how we can promote tourism destinations to the eyes of the world so that this can bring in tourist traffic so that the local community will feel the impact, especially the economic impact," he explained.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Wednesday (07/02/24), last year, through the Aquabike Jetski World Championship 2023, Indonesia successfully hosted the international jetski championship. This success was recognized by the Founder of H2O Racing Management, Nicolo Di San Germano, who said that Lake Toba is the best venue in the world as a jet ski racing location because of the beauty, splendor and charm of Lake Toba.
This year's F1Powerboat event will also be enlivened by the first Aquabike Indonesian Championship series. In this event, 2 categories will be held, namely endurance and parallel slalom. Around 20 national racers will take part in this event. This opportunity will open up opportunities for athletes to develop their best performance and participate in the next Aquabike World Championship on Lake Toba.

F1Powerboat is a world championship which is the main and superior series in racing competitions specifically for single-driver motorboats. F1Powerboat is a world championship that stimulates high adrenaline and is considered the most spectacular sport in the world.

This competition uses single-driver motorboats that have spectacular speed, with a length of 5 meters and a weight of more than 500 kg. With a 400 horsepower engine, this motorboat can reach speeds of more than 220 km/hour. In 2024, 9 countries with a total of 18 racers will compete for 1 season to win the world title. This championship consists of qualifying rounds, sprint races and grand prix//VOI