Jakarta, April 1 (Antara Maluku) - Indonesia has opened the "Wonderful Indonesia" restaurant in the ancient Chinese town of Luoyang in an effort to promote the variety of culinary products of the country.
The deputy for overseas tourism marketing of the ministry of tourism, I Gde Pitana, inaugurated the restaurant, named after the country's tourism brand name, at Hotel Peony Plaza on Saturday.
"Culinary has become an effective means of promotion. It also has the potential to become an entry point to tourism. Unlike in the past when we used culture, arts, or sports as a means of promotion, we will use culinary at present," he noted in his statement received here.
He had cooperated with Peony Plaza Hotel, one of the most popular four-star rated hotels in Luoyang, for the promotion.
"We did not invest in a large amount for the cooperation. We only trained three chefs in Luoyang to handle Indonesian foods and spread information about it," he stated.
The hotel management had agreed to provide a full space on the 25th floor with a capacity of around 125 seats, he remarked.
This is the first rotary restaurant in the city where visitors could enjoy the beautiful scenery of Luoyang while dining on a rotating restaurant on the 25th floor.
A Wonderful Indonesia restaurant has earlier been opened in Anhui, China, while more restaurants could be opened in various other provinces in China in future.
Pitana pointed out that the cooperation and promotion model would also be done in other target countries.
"After experiencing the Indonesian nuance, we plan to invite tourism agencies, travel bureaus, journalists, and restaurant owners in Luoyang to join a trip to Indonesia in May," he reiterated.
Luoyang Peony Plaza Hotel's Board of Management President Wei Dong remarked that he had agreed to provide one floor exclusively for Wonderful Indonesia Restaurant, because of the potential that could be developed from the Indonesian culinary products.
"The relations between the people of Luoyang and Indonesia have existed for thousand years. A lot of Luoyang people are curious about Bali as well as other parts of Indonesia. So with the presence of Wonderful Indonesia, we will strive to attract more people to dine here," he asserted.
Wei Dong believed that Indonesian foods could receive good response from the people in his country.
Luoyang Peony Hotel is one of the state-owned hotels and is the biggest in Luoyang.
