A taste of “Wonderful Indonesia”
Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry has joined with the Indonesian embassy in Bangkok and the regional tourism offices of Banten and West Sulawesi in organising the “Wonderful Indonesia Festival” taking place from today (November 17) to November 19 at Central World.
On the theme “The Never Ending Story of Magical Land and Legends”, the festival will introduce the uniqueness of Indonesia’s tourist destinations along with their legendary stories, focusing on five routes: Medan–Aceh, Jakarta–Bandung–Banten, Yogyakarta–Solo–Semarang (Joglosemar), Surabaya–Malang, and Bali–Lombok.
“We want Bangkokians to know our country better and understand its richness of nature and culture. This event is presented not only for Thais but also for many other tourists who visit Thailand,” said I Gde Pitana.
The event features art and cultural performances, a concert, a workshop, culinary and fashion bazaar. Indonesian coffee, batik, wayang (shadow puppets) and angklung traditional music instruments are also on display.
Visitors can join creative workshops on ceramic painting, a unique craftwork from Malang, paperdoll making, or sample an array of traditional dishes such as Kerak Telor, Soto Bandung, Martabak and other traditional snacks.
Also available are games, movie screenings and augmented reality and virtual reality presentations of the country’s highlights. A handicraft market has a selection of items perfect as gifts for the upcoming festive season,
Indonesia has 14,572 islands that possess unique characteristics and Minister of Tourism Arif Yahya recently introduced 10 new spots as an alternative choice to Bali for foreign tourists. They include the Riau Islands, Joglosemar (Yogyakarta, Surakarta and Semarang), the Coral Wonders (Wakatobi, Bunaken and Raja Ampat), Medan, Makassar, Lombok and Banyuwangi.
They are all part of the “Wonderful Indonesia” campaign, which aims to attract 15 million foreign tourists in 2017 and 20 million by 2019.
