Indonesia envisions Bali as gastronomy tourism destination
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The Indonesian government wants Bali to be known not just for its beaches, dances and history, but also for its food. To that end, Jakarta plans to promote the island as the country's prime gastronomy destination through a campaign that highlights local
"A team is currently in Bali to discuss the matter," said the Tourism Ministry's deputy assistant for cultural tourism development, Lokot Enda, in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Bali is considered to be better suited for this role than other regions of Indonesia, based on three criteria: accessibility, amenities and attractions.
"Bali already has the brand and resources to become a gastronomy tourism destination. We chose to start with Bali, because we want to accelerate this gastronomy tourism; we don't want to begin from zero. Developing a new area could take five to ten years," said Lokot.
Compared to Jakarta, Lokot said, Bali was more accomplished in terms of gastronomy attractions. "There is one restaurant in Bali where you have to make a reservation up to a year in advance."
Aside from eating, gastronomy tourism involves visiting food producers, culinary festivals, traditional markets, cooking shows and food-tasting events and all tourism activities related to food.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism, the government aims to attract 20 million foreign visitors a year by 2019 and employ 13 million locals in the tourism industry.
