Indonesia’s tourism minister Arief Yahya says Mandalika, Lombok could take advantage of the MotoGP race event in 2021 to position itself as a sports destination.
The minister’s statement followed by news that the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the management of the Mandalika integrated resort development, will host the MotoGP race for three years from 2021. The promotor’s agreement was signed with Dorna Sports SL.
Last week, Indonesia also submitted a bid to host the 2032 Olympics, demonstrating an intention to attract more major sporting events after playing host to the Asian Games last summer.
Speaking during his visit to Lombok yesterday, Arief said: “With plans to host MotoGP and the development of golf courses in Mandalika, I suggest for Mandalika to position itself as a sports destination.
“Indonesia will host MotoGP race for the first time in 2021 in Mandalika and this will strengthen the position of West Nusa Tenggara as a destination. The race is expected to attract some 100,000 international travellers.”
The race in Mandalika will be a street race concept like the ones in Singapore and Monaco. The planned circuit will be 4.3km long with 18 turns, complete with a paddock with 40 garages and a grand stand of 93,200 seats, plus an area for 7,700 standing spectators.
As part of its support to the organising of MotoGP and its commitment to make Mandalika a sports destination, the Ministry of Tourism will allot a fund of one million euros (US$1.1 million) to help ITDC obtain the hosting licence.
Arief was in Lombok for the ground breaking of the 24-villa Ama-Lurra Resort on Gili Air. The net zero carbon emission concept resort will take an investment of US$2.2 million in two stages.
The tourism minister expressed his appreciation for the West Nusa Tenggara government and tourism stakeholders recovering from the natural disaster that struck the destination of Lombok.
Millennium Hilton Bangkok has launched a battery electric limousine service, the result of a collaboration with Rizen Energy, the authorised importer and distributor of BYD electric vehicles in Thailand.
An initiative said to be the first of its kind, the collaborative project targets to reduce 15,000kg of carbon in 2019 by encouraging hotel guests to use BYD electric limousines as part of the riverfront hotel’s strong intention to reduce solve Bangkok’s critical pollution problem.
Heidi Kleine-Moeller, general manager of Millennium Hilton Bangkok, sees an “achievable” target for 2019. She said: “Considering that a combustion engine car emits approximately 200g per kilometre, we need to ensure that until the end of 2019 our e-limousine can service our guests no less than 88,000km or 1,200 round trips from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Millennium Hilton Bangkok and back.”
Against the backdrop of worsening air pollution in Bangkok, the opportunity to partner with BYD will offer a new environmentally-friendly mode of transport to hotel guests and clients, which “hopefully will reach other companies and the government soon as well to make a difference city and country wide”, Kleine-Moeller added.
According to Ronachai Chinwattanaporn, CEO of Rizen Energy, BYD e6, the first electric limousine in Thailand, has been in use worldwide for public transportation for more than eight years. It is proven to be reliable, safe and practical.
Two BYD e6 will be at service during the pilot period, and the fleet could be extended upon the demands for e-limo service, Ronachai revealed. A new model is expected to join the fleet by mid-2019, he added.