KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s poor ranking by TasteAtlas does not necessarily mean local food does not have a place in the hearts of foreign travellers, said Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
Speaking to The Vibes, Nancy said Malaysia has been actively promoting heritage food for years via various efforts, including throughout the Covid-19 pandemic period, contrary to the view that not enough is being done in terms of marketing.
This is going by the positive response during recent promotional campaigns for local heritage foods, such as the Pesta Angin Timur held in Perlis last month, which she said was well-received by the international community.
Apart from this, Nancy said several other digital campaigns were carried out during the pandemic to ensure Malaysia remained “visible” to foreign tourists, including gastronomy-related Facebook-live events that saw the participation of key opinion leaders and influencers.
She pointed out that her ministry is also constantly looking to elevate the country’s heritage food culture via two key initiatives, namely the recognition of certain cuisines as national heritage under the National Heritage Act 2005, and a focus on research, documentation and publishing of books related to heritage and “endangered” food.
The ministry, through the National Heritage Department, is also in the midst of nominating Malaysians’ favourite food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and other key festival delicacies to be recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, she said.
Meanwhile, former tourism and culture minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz says Malaysia should take the ranking with a pinch of salt.
He noted that TasteAtlas is not a recognised food rating agency, and that there is no scientific basis for the scoring system.
The Umno lawmaker said the fact that the scores are based merely on ratings from the general public means there is a major drawback in the ranking system.
However, he said this does not mean Malaysia should completely disregard the list, urging stakeholders to instead use it as motivation to further improve the country’s food products.
Nazri said those actively involved in the tourism and hospitality industries in particular could take some pointers from the reviews made by the public, and that they should not be too arrogant so as to dismiss criticisms.
As for those in the ministry, I believe they should step up their promotional campaign and marketing overseas of our local, traditional food in a bid to attract more travellers into the country,” he told The Vibes.
Culinary diplomacy: the way forward?
Universiti Putra Malaysia’s Food Science and Technology Faculty’s Prof Muhammad Shahrim Ab Karim concurred that much more could be done to market and position Malaysian food at the international level, urging the government to do more to sustain heritage food culture.
“Malaysians don’t take pride in our heritage food, but we have a lot of unique foods to offer to the world,” he said.
We will lose our heritage food if we don’t do something to preserve and market our products. We need to strategise to make our delicacies recognised globally.”
Ahmad Esa Abdul Rahman of Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Hotel and Tourism Management Faculty believes Malaysia needs to have a strategic alliance with international foodies and food travellers to better promote local cuisines. An effective culinary diplomacy programme is also required to create hype on Malaysian food, he said.
Many countries have a strategy to enter this ranking. They work with many parties, especially consumers and tourists, to improve ratings and rankings. It’s all about strategising...Most of the time, the rankings are political and can be manipulated through effective planning.”
Meanwhile, Mohamad Fadzly Che Omar, a chef and assistant professor at UCSI University’s Hospitality and Tourism Management Faculty, agreed that the government has done its part in marketing local cuisines, but lamented that coverage has not been well distributed and should be directed at all levels of the industry.
He noted that while niche markets like small and medium enterprises tend to have the advantage of benefitting from the government’s marketing efforts, those in the hotel industry are often left to fend for themselves in promoting their unique cuisines.
Their responses come after the updated June list by experiential travel guide website TasteAtlas sees Malaysia placed at a lowly 46th position out of 50, with only Egypt, Bolivia, Uruguay and Slovenia trailing behind.
The list, which sees Malaysia obtaining a score of 4.19 out of a possible 5, was uploaded on TasteAtlas’ Twitter account yesterday evening, sparking heated debate among netizens.
Responding to the criticism in an exclusive comment to The Vibes, TasteAtlas has defended its methodology in determining the ranking.
The company explained that while users are given a free hand to rate the dishes, it uses artificial intelligence to establish and validate if the ratings that are keyed are genuine, and that scores would only be counted if the user is estimated to be “real”. – The Vibes, June 9, 2022
