The Indonesian government plans to host two major sporting events in the coming months as a first step towards reopening the country.
The National Games, set to take place from October 2-15 in Papua; and the World Superbike, slated for November 12-14 in Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara; will be the first crowd-pulling events in the country since the pandemic outbreak, with only vaccinated visitors permitted entry.
Papua Tourism application has been launched to introduce and promote attractions around the sports venues, while the development of Mandalika Circuit for World Superbike is 93 per cent complete.
According to Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), the Mandalika developer, the construction of race track and heliport is almost completed, while hotel rooms for participants and visitors are mostly ready.
Sandiaga Uno, minister of tourism and creative economy, said: “President Joko Widodo has approved (for the events to go ahead on condition that the pandemic is under control) and we will go all out to prepare the industry and regulations (beforehand).”
The announcement of the events comes as a ray of hope for the beleaguered travel industry.
Awan Aswinabawa, chairman of NTB chapter of ASTINDO, saw World Superbike as an opportunity to sell eco-tourism tour packages, which the association members had prepared earlier to cater for post-pandemic travellers. “We will sell packages highlighting (nature) combined with cultural activities and sports programmes such as yoga, trekking, snorkelling, and skin diving,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bahriyansyah, secretary general of ASITA, said that his association had also communicated with ITDC to seek business opportunities by crafting bundle packages, which include event tickets.
Doing so would not only present a lifeline to the association members, but at the same time, help the government promote the events, he added. Bahriyansyah also expected the government to synchronise the Papua Tourism application with the industry players’ products and services.
“Indonesians’ interest in Papua is big, but the lack of detailed information on accommodation facilities and transportation in Papua is the problem. We can help (solve this issue),” he said.
Awan hoped that the government would recruit local industry players as members of the events’ organising teams as he believed their experience in serving international visitors would contribute to the events’ successes.
Cube O Discovery Park, Hong Kong’s first marine experience destination in the city centre, has opened at the Plaza 88 shopping mall in Tsuen Wan.
Covering an area of over 929m², the attraction will feature a combination of real marine life displays and interactive multimedia games, in addition to a variety of recreation, education and dining opportunities.
Cube O is the first project in Hong Kong from Cube Oceanarium, an aquarium brand; and is the result of a collaboration between an aquarium architect, an aquarium aquaculture operation team, a senior marine conservation consultant and a technical consultant.
Cube O is divided into several themed zones with different attractions including Hong Kong’s first acrylic window projection. This integrates views of real marine life with projected light and shadow effects. There is also a mixed reality jellyfish classroom, a playhouse for children and a dining area.
The interactive multimedia technology will also enable visitors to observe the marine life up close and learn more about nature, environmental protection and sustainable patterns of living.
At the jellyfish research institute, visitors can learn how jellyfish develop from babies into adults, and find out more about jellyfish ecology and the characteristics of different jellyfish species. In addition to watching jellyfish feeding, visitors will also be allowed to contact them from a safe zero-distance and thus get closer to the ocean.
The interactive multimedia games will further boost the overall experience, as visitors can “become” small fish, swimming under the protection of a jellyfish in an ocean exploration tour.
In the MR jellyfish classroom, visitors can become “guardians of the ocean” and rescue a stranded green sea turtle. The rescue operation follows real turtle rescue procedures. Visitors who participate will be able to learn about the work of professional conservationists, think about the effect of human beings on the ocean and gain a sense of mission with respect to marine conservation.
Elsewhere, the children’s playhouse features Hong Kong’s first ocean-themed play space where children can gain marine knowledge while having fun with mastering physical challenges.
The park has invited a head chef and his team from a local five-star hotel to prepare a selection of delicacies. In addition, Corner Cone, a famous Asian ice cream brand, has prepared a range of limited-edition ocean-themed ice creams specially for the Cube O.