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JAKARTA, May 14 (APD)– Indonesia’s destination of Ubud in Bali has been picked by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) as gastronomic tourism development model, was officiated in the recent forum on food tourism held by the international organization in Spain city of San Sebastian.
Entitled to hold such a UNWTO task, Indonesia is required to submit reports on steps which have been taken to address the task, an official statement said on Sunday.
The reports would eventually be exposed in next year’s UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, Head of team to accelerate Culinary and Shopping Tourism at the Tourism Ministry Revita Datau Messakh said the statement.
Speaking in the forum held early last week in the Spain’s destination favored by visitors for its exceptional culinary attractions, Revita said that Ubud and four other destinations, consisted of Yogyakarta, Semarang, Solo and Bandung, have been assigned by the ministry to highlight gastronomic tourism so as to give more tour alternative and experiences for foreign visitors during their visit in Indonesia.
She said Indonesia applies a particular concept, sourced from national values in developing its gastronomic tourism, called the Triangle Concept.
The concept digs philosophic aspects of the food, culture and history in each of national cooking, she added.
“Food and history are connected by spices. History and culture are connected by storytelling, meanwhile rituals link food and culture,” Revita said.
Citing to Indonesia’s delicacy from West Sumatra province of Rendang, which was tipped by CNN as World’s Best Food in 2011, Revita said Rendang has complete features that fit with the nation’s gastronomic concept for tourism.
“The meat and spices represent prosperity and enhancements, meanwhile coconut milk and red chili refer to integration and a good lesson,” Revita explained the Indonesian philosophy featured in Rendang.
Indonesia has myriad of traditional food recipes developed by 1,340 tribes inhabiting more than 17,000 islands across its tropical territory, she said.
“The ministry now has registered around 5,000 recipes of traditional foods from all of those tribes,” she added.
The move to develop culinary tourism was aimed at supporting the government in complying with targets in tourism sector which has been set as the nation’s core industry.
Receiving some 20 million foreign visitors and earnings of more than 24 billion have been targeted by government by 2019.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
