Jakarta, Sept. 30 -- Youth and Sports Minister Erick Thohir said Indonesia's sport tourism potential needs to be optimized, noting the global sport tourism market is valued at Rp9,500 trillion, of which Indonesia has only captured 0.5 percent.

"The sports industry today is worth roughly Rp8,000 trillion, that's an extraordinary figure. If we talk about sport tourism, that reaches Rp9,500 trillion. This is globally," Thohir said here on Wednesday at the launch of the book "MotoGP Mandalika 2025: Economic, Image, and Tourism Acceleration."

Thohir said the existing potential must be maximized properly, as Indonesia currently only captures around Rp39 trillion, or 0.5 percent, putting the country far behind globally.

He said that once this...