Bali Tourism News

We can learn a lot from Bali: Muscat

October 24th, 2008

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Bali

Some athletes competing in the Asian Beach Games might not have as much to do over the next two years, as the Muscat Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee (MABGOC) has decided to trim the number of sports for the 2010 event in Oman.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, MABGOC director Habib A. Macki said they had decided to include only 11 sports, compared with Bali’s 19.

“We are looking at different things. Here in Bali, there are many hotels. You can accommodate many athletes,”he said on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) at the\ Westin Hotel in Nusa Dua.

“We don’t want to build that many hotels because there will be not much use.We must think about the future. Therefore, we will concentrate on only 11 sports and a certain number of athletes.”

Even though only 11 sports will be included at the event in Oman, Muscat expects to be able to host a greater number of athletes in its forthcoming Olympic village which, Macki said, would accommodate 3,000 athletes.

Around 1,600 athletes from 45 Asian countries are participating in the Bali Games. Macki presented the masterplan for the Muscat Games before representatives of the 45 National Olympic Committee members under OCA.

The Olympic village, which began construction this year, will be located near the coastal town of Mussanah, an hour’s drive from Muscat. The town’s legacy from hosting the Asian Beach Games will include world-class sporting facilities, a three-star hotel and meeting and conference facilities. The village is expected to become a magnet for the country’s future development of sports.

“We will host these beach games in one village. It will be home to all the sporting competitions, but some events may take place somewhere outside the village because this space will not be sufficient,” Macki said.

“Athletes and officials will be in one village. The media will not be far away from there, just 10 minutes’ drive.

And NOC (National Olympic Committee) guests will be based in a different place.”

He added that MABGOC was looking forward to hosting the Games, because of its expected benefits.

“There are certain things, most importantly tourism. We are looking to bringing in more tourists,”he said.

“Second, for young people… athletes.You (Games participants) have so many young athletes. They are very famous in our country. The Games will give them a chance to (display their skills).

“Economically, it’s very important. Sport is about promotion. We are building infrastructure that we can use again in the future, such as a sport academy,” he said, adding that organizers had allocated a budget of US$200 million for the Games.

The Omani entourage also intends to learn from the organization of the first Asian Beach Games.

“We are learning a lot from Bali because it’s the first-ever Beach Games. Being the first Games,always difficult. I told Madam Rita (Subowo) the other day. I said `Thanks, you are the first and we are the second, so we can learn from you’,”Macki said.

“We have 45 people here to learn, about various departments such as venues. Everything. We want to learn something from Bali and take it with us.”

Source: The Jakarta Post

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