'Indonesia Spice up the World' in Bali Promotes Local Culinary, Spices

TheIndonesia.co - The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy held Indonesia Spice up the World (ISUTW) exhibition at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali in a bid to promote local spices and cuisines to international markets.

Deputy for tourism products and event organizing at the Ministry Rizki Handayani said the event, which is part of an inter-ministerial campaign, seeks to introduce national dishes to tourists in Bali.

“We will introduce the ‘Indonesia Spice up the World’ to international stage. Bali, especially its airport, is the starting point if we aim to present Indonesian cuisine,” Handayani said on Wednesday, August 17, as reported by Antara.

The ISUTW exhibition was held within the international departure terminal area and targeted international tourists who were leaving Bali.

Sate ayam (chicken satay), rending daging (beef rendang), nasi goreng (fried rice), soto ayam, and gado-gado were offered during the exhibition, and customers also got a package of Indonesian spices for every food purchase.

“It is [located] right in the departure terminal because we want this to become their last taste of Indonesia before they return home,” Handayani added.

According to her, ISUTW is the fruit of collaboration between government, private sector, and public. And seeing visitors’ enthusiasm thus far, similar exhibitions are planned to be held in the future.

“People need to pay if they’d like to try [the dishes], [but] the market appears to be promising. I’m optimistic that if this is to continue, we can try to develop other dishes other than the current five menus,” the official said.

The ISUTW campaign also aims to drive more export of spices that is targeted at US$2 billion in 2024, by which the government also targets 4,000 Indonesian restaurants to open abroad.

“We’re currently collecting data on the existing restaurants, and it’s not the figure that matters, but how our spice export increases,” Handayani said.

“[What important is] how the Indonesian restaurants can increase their sales, so eventually, our spice production also rises.”