On July 23, 2021, OTTIMMO International has successfully held a webinar about tourism village with the title “The Future of Wonderful Village in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges” by presenting the Minister of tourism and creativeeconomy (Mr. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno), Initiator, founder and chair of Indonesia Gastronomy Network (Ms. Vita Datau) and the general chairman of the IndonesianCreative Village Association (Mr. Fikri el-Aziz).
The event was attended by 300 participants from all over Indonesia. The basis for developing a tourist village is the MoU between the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy with the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration. According to Mr. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno, one of the success stories of tourist villages in Indonesia is Nglanggeran Tourism Village. In 2006, this tourism village was launched and in 2018 it was awarded the ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Award (ASTA). Community groups with productive economic activities have emerged to support tourism such as homestays and culinary products. Griya Coklat Nglanggeran is one of the innovations in the culinary field that has been carried out by the Nglanggeran village community. Mr.Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno also emphasized that the Indonesia Spice Up the World program has the potential to increase Indonesia’s opportunities in the world culinary industry.
In the discussion with Mrs. Vita Datau, Gastronomic Tourism is about much more than food. It reflects the culture, heritage, traditions and sense of community of different peoples. Experiencing the authenticity of local wisdom can be through eating and cooking local food, sustainable agriculture & farming staple food, learn and introduce historical food, storytelling of the food and nutrition aspect of the food. Various Motivations for Visiting Culinary Tourism Destinations including food events (79 %), food tours (63 %), cookery workshop (62 %), food fairs (59 %), visit to market and food producers (53 %), museum (12 %) and others (20 %). The Key success factors for gastronomy tourism are commitment, competence, champion, collaboration and creativity.
The Indonesian Creative Village Association was formed to assist in the creative economy and entrepreneurship in Tourism Villages. This organization is chaired by Fikri El-Aziz and fostered by the minister of tourism and creative economy (Mr. Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno) and the deputy minister of villages Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration (Mr. Budi Arie setyadi).