Indonesia
With a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, the second largest shoreline in the world, 300 different ethnic groups, and more than 250 languages spoken, nature and culture has become two important things of Indonesian cuisine and tourism. Each region in the country has its own typical food as well as fascinating places to visit. Tourism and cuisine are related as when we travel to some places we may taste its local food. Therefore, those visiting certain place will give it a try to eat the food he only find there. Hence, in my opinion, cuisine is part of tourism. Many foreigners travelling to Indonesia are also interested in its 13 cuisine. No wonder tourism is an important component of the Indonesian economy and source of foreign exchange revenues. Indonesia has various kinds of tourism including natural tourism, historical tourism, educational tourism, and recreational tourism.
Indonesian Tourism
Firstly, natural tourism is one of the most attractive place to visit both for foreigners and locals. Indonesia is tropical country which its diversity in nature, flora, and fauna. Locating in ring of fire and having different geographical structure in each are, Indonesia has lots of natural tourism. Waterfall, mountain, hills, river, lake, sea, beach, canyon, and rainforest. Some of the well-known natural tourisms are Raja Ampat. Bunaken, Wakatobi, Jimbaran, Sanur and Kuta beach, Mount Jaya Wijaya, Mount Bromo, Komodo islands, Karimun Jawa and so on.
Secondly, historical and cultural tourism may deal with the architecture, anthropology, archeological site, and museum. Each region may have its own such tourism. For instance, Semarang has Lawang Sewu, Blenduk Church, and Old City. Another interesting historical place to visit is Borobudur and Prambanan Temple, Toraja, Garuda Wisnu Kencana, Keraton Jogjakarta. Also, religious places belongs to this kind of tourism such as church, mosque, or religious site.
Thirdly, educational tourism can be referred to as an approach for pursuing education, carrying out research activities, and knowledge acquisition. This tourism sector is acquiring popularity these days and is a fast-growing sub-sector in the travel and tourism industry. In the area of school, some may say study tour when the students visit tourism place and learn about something at once. In vocational school, student do study tour by visiting industry or company to learn how it works. Some examples of such tourism are hydroponic agrofarm, Taman Buah Mekar Sari, TMII, Planetarium, Mangrove forest, and Scientia Square Park.
Fourthly, recreational tourism is kind of tourism where the visitors may use recreational opportunities, which are offered by the natural or man-made environment of their destination. Hence, the purpose of this tourism is to give joy and fun to its visitors. Some recreational tourism in Indonesia is Dufan, TransStudio, Waterboom, Seaworld, and Saloka Theme Park in Semarang.
Three quarters of Indonesia’s visitors come from Asia Pacific region, with Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, and South Korea among the top five markets. In addition, the UK, Germany, French, and Netherlands are the largest sources of European visitors. Many European tourists usually seek the tropical weather by enjoying the beaches in Bali and Lombok.
Though tourism development has sometimes clashed with the local people in terms of tradition, dispute, and religious conflict, and issue of terrorism, the government always makes an effort to fix it and gain the trust of travelers. Moreover, the slogan of ‘Wonderful Indonesia’ is a proof that government never feel tired to promote the beauty attraction of Indonesia. It is an alert for us to go hand in hand with the government by keeping the condition of our nature and tourism places.
Indonesian Food
Those are the attractive of tourism in Indonesia that is so various, so is its cuisine. Indonesian cuisine is affected by the culture and tradition. That is why Indonesian cuisine varies by region and now it is mostly influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Western culture. Rice is the main dish for Indonesian and it is eaten with side dishes made of meat and vegetables. However, in some parts of the country such as Papua and Maluku, the people eat sago (a type of tapioca) and sweet potato. Additionally, Indonesian cuisine is well-known for its spices as the fundamental ingredient. No wonder if Indonesian food is so tasty even some of which are on the top 100 most delicious food in the world, namely Rendang from West Sumatra and Satay (Sate) originally from Java, Madura, and Sumatra. Satay has gained popularity in Indonesia and even in abroad. The evidence is satay is sold in street vendor food in Singapore and Thailand.
Considering with religious belief, most Indonesian pay attention to the important aspect of food that is halal and haram to eat. For instance muslim is not allowed to eat pork and alcoholic drinks. On the other hand, another religion allow to do so. Indonesian dishes are usually spicy as it uses various spices and chili papers. The most popular dishes include nasi goring, satay, nasi padang, tempe, tofu, and Indonesian vegetable salad with peanut sauce such as pecel, gado-gado, and karedok. I think each region has its own local or typical food as it is one of the tourist attraction. Another unique aspect of Indonesian cuisine is the use of terasi, a pungent shrimp paste in dishes of sambal. Indonesia not only has its own delicious typical food, but also its cuisine influenced by Chinese, Indian, and western culture. For instance, dim sum and noodle from China, biryani rice from India and Middle East, and also fast food restaurant as the effect of western culture, KFC, Burger King, and CFC for instance.
The influence of foreign culture in Indonesia can be taken as an opportunity to innovate and create new thing about cuisine. It may help to promote our local culture through the platform of globalization. For example, now there is nasi uduk in KFC menu in some region. Moreover, the patty of burger can be made from vegetable and rice to adjust the culture of Indonesian as well as to serve vegetarian. This is a chance to internationalize Indonesian cuisine in such a way. In the future, an Indonesian or even foreigners will use local cuisine as topping or garnish for western food.
Clevaster 