REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TOKYO — Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said the success of the 2024 Tokyo Marathon in Japan, which was attended by 38 thousand participants from various countries, could be an inspiration and benchmark for organizing sports-based tourism (sports tourism) in attracting foreign tourists.
“Indonesia wants to learn from Japan regarding the success of the 2024 Tokyo Marathon, which is one of the best tourism sports in the world,” said Sandiaga in Jakarta, Wednesday, (6/3/2024). Sandiaga explained that his participation in the Tokyo Marathon 2024 a few days ago was not just to participate, but also to learn more about organizing one of the six World Marathon Majors running races.
Sports-based tourism or sports tourism is one of the markets in the tourism sector that continues to grow, especially after the pandemic. According to information from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, sports tourism contributes around 10 percent of global tourism spending and is estimated to grow by 17.5 percent from 2023 to 2030.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, the potential sports tourism in 2024 it is estimated that it could reach IDR 19 trillion. This is supported by the beautiful natural potential, varied natural contours, as well as the vast territory as well as the variety of cultures and friendliness of the people, which makes Indonesia very appropriate in organizing sports tourism.
“We must bring this spirit back to our homeland to support sports tourism activities, providing quality sports, which can attract many foreign tourists,” said Sandiaga.
Through programs that are right on target, right on benefits and on time, Sandiaga hopes that sports-based tourism will be able to revive the national economy. “That’s what we firmly encourage, because through sports tourism, we can create new business opportunities and jobs. “Like during the last MotoGP in Mandalika, 35 thousand-45 thousand jobs were created not only in Lombok, but nationally,” said Sandiaga.
Apart from taking part in the Tokyo Marathon, Sandiaga during his working visit to Japan also met with a number of tourism industry players to strengthen tourism cooperation in increasing tourist visits from Japan to Indonesia.
source: Antara