Ubud Eyeing to Become UNWTO's Global Gastronomy Destination

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bali’s Ubud in Gianyar Regency is preparing itself to be a global gastronomy destination which will be submitted to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

This was mentioned by Vita Datau Messakh, head of Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry’s team on the accelerated development of destination of culinary tourism and shopping development.

“The program done by the Tourism Ministry and UNWTO is entering the stage of an assessment visit at the destination,” said Vita Datau at the Tourism Ministry on Tuesday, June 11.

The ministry recommended Ubud as a gastronomy destination to the UNWTO since 2017.

Ubud firstly needs to be mapped for the industry’s preparedness and businesses before the naming.

Secondly, it must undergo a verification process and analysis which include an interview with gastronomy stakeholders, hotels, restaurants, cooks, food festival initiators, local administration, academics, transportation service providers and the tourists.

“The process will take eight days in Ubud and its surrounding areas. Questioners will be spread online and offline for three weeks,” Vita explained.

The third stage is preparing an official recommendation from stakeholders for the second assessment that is scheduled to take place in early August of 2019.

UNWTO expert representative Roberta Garibaldi explained that a holistic gastronomy destination must bear a cultural heritage values apart from a growing industry and top quality of local food ingredients. Roberta also said there need to be ample gastronomy amenities and a balance between restaurants, cafes, and bars that accentuate local wisdom.

BRAM SETIAWAN (CONTRIBUTOR)