Famous for having a variety of natural tourist destinations, it's no wonder that Indonesia is a regular host for world-class sports tourism. An international sports tourism event to be held in Indonesia in the near future is the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba.

The F1 Powerboat is the Formula 1 (F1) Powerboat World Championship, organized by Union Internationale Motonautique and sponsored by the H20. That's why this international motorboat racing event is also called F1H20.

The world-class super fast boat racing event will be held on February 24-26, 2023 on Lake Toba, North Sumatra. Being entrusted to be the host of prestigious and international sports tourism is certainly a good opportunity for Indonesia, especially Lake Toba as a Super Priority Destination (DSP).

F1 Powerboat Lake Toba Facts

Being held for the first time in Indonesia, the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba will be attended by dozens of racers from several countries around the world. Among them are Britain, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, China, Portugal, Brazil, France, South Korea and Qatar.

This event will be a quite unique attraction for tourists visiting Lake Toba. They will witness the performance of racers driving their powerboats at speeds of more than 220 km/hour.

In addition, the track or circuit of the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba series is said to be the most unique track as long as this racing event has been held in the world. This 2.2-km track was formed due to the geography of Lake Toba as a volcanic lake.

As an annual event that is regularly held, the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba event is expected to be able to bring in 25,000 tourists, both local and foreign.

Illustration: Infrastructure and venue preparation welcome F1 Powerboat (Photo: Shutterstock/PLOO Galary)

Preparation for F1 Powerboat Lake Toba

Various efforts and preparations were made so that this international sports tourism event could run smoothly as planned in terms of infrastructure, venue, and accommodation.

“Preparing for the physical development of the venue for the F1H20 events as of January 29, 2023, progress has reached 87.003%. Other preparations are related to the availability of accommodation, human resources, tour packages, creative economy products, and organizing side events,” Jimmy Bernando Panjaitan, President Director of Lake Toba Authority Executive Agency (BPODT), explained.

For visitors, the venue of this international sports tourism event provides tribune with a capacity of around 2,100 seats. In addition, there is a public viewing spot on Pagoda Hill with a capacity of up to 1,500 visitors.

Meanwhile, in terms of infrastructure and accommodation readiness during the F1H20 event, the Deputy of Destination and Infrastructure Development Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Tourism and Creative Economy Agency will provide star and non-star hotels, villas/bungalows, homestays/sarhunta (tourism housing facilities), resident houses, and camping ground. 

“Data as of February 5, 2023, the number of available accommodations in eight regencies in the Lake Toba region is 7,250 rooms, the number of rooms still available is 5,285 rooms, and already booked (February 24-26, 2023) is 1,955 rooms,” said Jimmy Bernando Panjaitan.

There are also plans to provide glamping for tourists. Paid glamping has been prepared by Injourney in cooperation with Bobobox in the amount of 200 units, at Tarabunga Hill and Pagoda Hill in Toba Regency.

In addition, Tourism Village of Meat, Pakkodian, Singgolom, in collaboration with Pokdarwis Desa Wisata, will also provide camping grounds for tourists visiting the F1H20 event. 

Transport facilities are also carefully and well prepared, including coordinating with Silangit Airport. So, that land transportation trips to the venue of the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba run smoothly. 

The government will also provide shuttle buses for all tourists during F1H20. The Ministry of Transportation will provide 30 buses, while the governments of North Sumatra Province and Toba Regency will provide transport facilities as needed.

Meanwhile, Mulia Raja Napitupulu Harbor will be functioned as media center, trauma center, office area for the F1H20 organizers, and hospitality suite for VVIP guests attending the F1 Powerboat Lake Toba.

Stakeholder Involved

PT PLN (Persero) will prepare a layered power supply in order to make the event successful. Beside preparing the supply of electricity infrastructure, PLN will also carry out several simulations of electricity security at the venue. 

In supporting the smooth running of this international event, many stakeholders were involved in F1H20 in Lake Toba. Such as Central Committee (all relevant ministries/institutions, Bank Indonesia, state-owned enterprises/banks), Regional Executive Committee, PHRI, HPI, schools, and MSME community. 

Having the opportunity to host an international racing event is certainly a very good start for Indonesia. However, it can enhance the image and attractiveness of Lake Toba as a Super Priority Destination internationally.

Being to choses to host F1 Powerboat Lake Toba also expected the creative economy for the people around Lake Toba. Especially tourism and economy creative agents in eight districts around Lake Toba, Lake Toba after the pandemic. 

"Hopefully, the F1H20 event can increase the number of domestic and foreign tourist visits to Lake Toba by 7.3%. Meanwhile, in terms of economic impact, it is estimated at Rp 212 billion (that can be earned) from the implementation of F1 Powerboat on Lake Toba," Jimmy concluded.

Cover: F1 Powerboat Lake Toba ready to roll out (Photo: f1h20.com)