Rowing athletes from 11 countries, including Australia, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and Kenya, are participating in Kampar's International Dragon Boat Festival (KIDBF), Riau Governor Syamsuar noted in a statement made available to ANTARA here on Friday.
Initiated by the Kampar district government, in collaboration with the Indonesian Rowing Association (PODSI), the event is not merely focused on improving the quality of Indonesia's rowing athletes, he pointed out.
Syamsuar explained that KIDBF was also a sports tourism event to introduce and highlight the huge potential of Kampar District's tourism sector, he remarked, adding that this dragon boat festival was also expected to attract domestic and foreign tourists.
According to Syamsuar, Riau Province not only has huge potential in the form of rowing athletes but its tourism sector also holds promise as long as it is backed by good infrastructure to attract more travelers to visit and stay longer in the province.
In October 2018, an international dragon boat race was also held on Carang River of Tanjungpinang City, Riau Islands Province, in which 48 teams from Indonesia and several other countries participated in. The event was also an endeavor to attract more tourists to visit the province.
Translator: Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
