Hosting a MotoGP

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

A panorama of Tanjung Aan Beach, Mandalika region, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday (17/6/2018). The Mandalika coastal area has the potential to become a special economic area and be developed into one of Indonesia\'s leading tourist destinations. The efforts to realize the plan need to pay attention to the challenges of developing human resources, empowering local communities and ensuring environmental sustainability in the face of the impact of large-scale development.

The trust in Lombok to take part in organizing the MotoGP and World Superbike racing series would open the door to an international tourism network.

The MotoGP race owner, which is also the World Superbike commercial rights holder, the Dorna Sports Group, announced on Saturday (Feb. 23, 2019) that one of the series of the two prestigious international motorbikes is to be held in the special economic area of Mandalika, Lombok, in 2020.

For Indonesia, this trust is an opportunity to attract international publications and other world media to Mandalika. This is expected to increase the number of tourist visits and the expansion of the tourism industry.

At the same time, considerable work awaits. The main thing is to ensure the circuit meets the quality requirements specified by the World Motorsport Federation (FIM). The FIM approved a circuit in the form of a 4.32-kilometer highway loop with 18 corners. Construction is to begin in October 2019.

Another challenge is to build the trust of the international community that Indonesia, especially Lombok, is safe and ready to accept world-class racing participants and tourists of various nationalities. Safety would not only be gauged by the security aspects, but also from the aspect of health in general, such as the availability of clean toilets and places to eat and stay that are up to international standards.

To answer this challenge, the Indonesian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which represents Indonesia in cooperation with Dorna, needs to be assisted by all stakeholders, especially the regional administration. In addition to the race circuits and physical infrastructure in the form of regional support facilities, such as hotels, motels, restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops, must also be ready and it is no less important to expand the airport and improve access from the airport to the Mandalika area.

In addition, we need to build social infrastructure and prepare training so that we have skilled people who understand the work of serving the contestants, international media and tourists well.

We want as much as possible that the employment opportunities from this event be filled by Indonesian professionals. Therefore, ITDC needs to collaborate with other institutions, including the regional administration, to prepare the best human resources from now on. Communities need to be involved and gain an understanding of the nature of a tourism industry that demands excellent hospitality.

Although the MotoGP and World Superbike are to be held in the Mandalika area, we believe that a doubling effect would extend to all aspects of Indonesian tourism and touch other economic fields outside of tourism.

MotoGP and World Superbike are events on the racing agenda with global networks, which we must fully use through three years of cooperation for the organization of MotoGP. The success of organizing the two events would show Indonesia to the world.