JSC is the location where several sports were held when Indonesia had hosted the 2018 Asian Games.
"Jakabaring Sports City is the only integrated sports complex that deserves to be a leading tourism destination in the country," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya noted in a press release on Thursday. Yahya had just visited the complex on Wednesday (Feb 6).
In order to realize such a vision, South Sumatra Province is expected to regularly hold sports events at the local, national, or also international levels.
Revenue from organizing sports events comes from television broadcasting, reaching 60 percent; souvenirs and merchandising, 30 percent; and tickets, 10 percent.
Yahya also urged JSC Managing Director Meina Fatriani Paloh to immediately conduct a benchmark study of neighboring countries that have integrated sports areas.
Some cities, such as Melbourne, Australia, have developed sports areas for tourist attraction. Melbourne has a sports complex area on the banks of Yara River, as an integrated area for all sports fields and athlete training centers.
"What about incoming revenue streams? Australia gets the most from sports events, so I think it is good to learn how they manage their sports tourism," Yahya stated.
JSC Managing Director Meina Fatriani Paloh expected some form of support, in terms of policies and workers, including technical procedures for establishing the complex as a sports tourism destination.
"We want to make JSC a tourist destination with the concept of a sport city and MICE integrated resort area. Thus, we need adequate policy support, technical procedures, and resources," she explained.
Editing by Suharto
Reporter: Yashinta Difa Pramudyani
Editor: Suharto
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