Jakarta, Nov 25, 2017 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has organized
international cycling events at national as well as regional levels, to
enable the domestic and foreign participants to have a close encounter
with the country's scenic beauty.
Among the sport tourism events are Tour de Singkarak in West Sumatra,
Tour de Central Celebes in Central Sulawesi; Tour de Lombok Mandalika in
West Nusa Tenggara; Tour de Flores and Tour de Timor in East Nusa
Tenggara; Tour de Moluccas in Maluku; Tour de Indonesia, Tour de
Cenderawasih Bay in West Papua, Tour de Ijen in Banyuwangi, East Java
Province, and Tour de Barelang in Batam, the Riau Islands Province.
East
Nusa Tenggara is among the most ambitious one as it has two cycling and
tourism events annually, namely Tour de Flores (TdF) on Flores Island
and Tour de Timor (TdT) on western part of Timor Island. Both TdT and
TdF follow the concept of Tour de Singkarak.
Organized
for the first time in 2009, the world-class Tour de Singkarak event
takes renowned international cyclists on an exciting tour across the
picturesque West Sumatra countryside's scenic landscapes, comprising of
beaches, blue lakes, and numerous hairpin bends, as they climb up to the
foot of the volcanoes.
Since
2013, the Amauri Sport Organization (ASO) has recommended the TdS as a
major cycling event in Asia, because it has managed to attract more than
1 million spectators.
After successfully organizing the first TdF last year, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) held the second TdF from July 14 to 19, 2017, by throwing more challenges, due to an increase in the number of regions covered during the tour.
While, the second TdT will be organized from Dec 9 to 12, 2017, according to Welly Rame Rohimone, an official of the East Nusa Tenggara tourism and creative economic office.
After successfully organizing the first TdF last year, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) held the second TdF from July 14 to 19, 2017, by throwing more challenges, due to an increase in the number of regions covered during the tour.
While, the second TdT will be organized from Dec 9 to 12, 2017, according to Welly Rame Rohimone, an official of the East Nusa Tenggara tourism and creative economic office.
The organizing committee will invite domestic as well as foreign cyclists from some 30 countries to participate in the TdT.
The event will be divided into four stages, namely Betun-Atambua (70.8 kilometers), Atambua-Kefamenanu (88.3 kilometers), Kefamenanu-Soe (86.2 kilometers), and Soe-Kota Kupang (100 kilometers).
The TdT's grand start will be from Betun, Malaka District, on Dec 9,
and the grand finish will be in Kupang, the capital of East Nusa
Tenggara, on Dec 12.
From
Betun, the TdT's participants will proceed to Atambua, North Timur
Tengah (TTU), South Timor Tengah (TTS), Kupang District, and finally to
Kupang City.
The participants will cover a total distance of 386 kilometers using
bicycles. In every stage, they will make a stopover and will continue
the tour the next day.
The
East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration hopes to attract more
tourists by organizing the annual sport tourism event.
To highlight the sport tourism event, NTT will organize the 2017 NTT Expo in Atambua, Belu, to coincide with the TdT.
"The TdT will be held from Dec 9 to 12, while the NTT Expo will be
organized from Dec 7 to 9," Eden Kalakik, promotion and marketing head
of the NTT tourism office, stated.
The NTT Expo will showcase the province's traditional delicacies, handcrafts, music, and woven clothing.
Gala dinners featuring traditional art performances will also be
organized for the TdT participants at every stopover of the tour. The
peak celebration will be held after the grand finish in Kupang.
"For the TdT, we will seriously promote NTT's tourism potential,
including its nature, culture, and culinary arts," he remarked.
For the TdT, the local authorities have made preparations for accommodation, security, and activities.
TdT is part of the series of tourism promotion activities that include
1001 Horse Parade in Sumba, organized annually by NTT.
Last year, some 50 cyclists participated in the TdT, which was held for the first time, from Nov 30 to Dec 2.
NTT Governor Frans Leburaya greeted the participants who had started
from Belu District, which shares border with the tiny country called
Timor Leste, located in the eastern part of Timor Island.
Riky, a TdT event organizer, disclosed that all the participants were
Indonesians. All of them agreed that they enjoyed the tour very much,
right from the start till the finish, Ricky added.
They
expressed their gratitude towards the local inhabitants and officials
of six districts for their hospitality and warm welcome.
The
cyclists were thrilled and challenged by the extreme topography of the
Timor Island, which was very steep in certain locations, beritantt.com
reported.
They
looked forward to participating in the annual sports event again and
expressed hope that more cyclists from many countries would join them.
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EDITED BY INE/a014
(T.F001/A/BESSR/A. Abdussalam) 25-11-2017
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