Page 76 - World Heritage and Tourism Innovation

Carly Stiana Scheffer-Sumampouw et al. Smart City Branding

Nevertheless, iconic products such as coconut shells Manado City… then the second is, of course,
should be branded and promoted by the city, such as the beauty of the mountains. There are places
pearls from Lombok and Ambon, weaving textiles such as lakes, rivers, and waterfalls here com-
from Nusa Tenggara and noken bags from Papua, etc. pletely… There are many unique fishes and
The raw materials of coconut shells are galore. Still, sea animals in the waters of Manado City…
our findings indicate that this business was not man- Then the second is, of course, the beauty of the
aged professionally to become Manado’s iconic handi- mountains, then places such as lakes, rivers,
craft and create economic value for the people. There- and waterfalls here are complete … in Mana-
fore, in finding localities in brand architecture and do, there is everything, eat it all. Manado has
attributes, Manado is best and concentrates only on it all; that is why we went to Davao yesterday.
place/destination branding and culinary. At the same I said that Davao is inferior to Manado… but
time, the craft was not given high priority; our inter- why did we go outside when Manado itself
net search result confirms it. Tourism is the third ele- has much potential that we can see… maybe
ment of smart branding from the smart city model of Manado people themselves are bored. How-
Manado the city. Our interviews and internet findings ever, friends from other regions in Indonesia
show that nature is Manado’s prioritised destination. will be satisfied because Manado is quite small;
It has Bunaken and Boulevard in Jembatan Soekarno we can only reach it in an hour without traffic
and Jendela, Indonesia. People can experience para- jams. Well, you can get a lot from there… you
gliding on Tetempangan Hill, and the newest one is can see the mountains, the sea, the beach, and
called Gunung Tumpah. We were recommended to all kinds of beauty in North Sulawesi province,
visit Gunung Tumpah as the local government is pro- especially in Manado.[Walansendow, 2021]
moting it; however, when we requested local people to From her statement, she implies that Manado
drive us to Gunung Tumpah, unfortunately, they had possesses diversity in its nature. Tourism in Manado
never heard of the place called Gunung Tumpah. In is also rich in its culinary tradition. The diversity of
August 2018, there was a campaign about Tomohon food, rich in spices and even several kinds of iconic
City celebrated as the city of flowers, and it was such drinks, indeed describes Manado as a city with diver-
a big and happy festival- full of flowers. In July 2019, sity in food and beverages. “Nasi Kuning, es brenebon,
President Mr Joko Widodo enacted the Likupang dis- bubur manado” (Yellow rice, iced brenebon, Manado
trict to become one of the super-priority destinations porridge) are some of the city’s iconic foods and are
of Indonesia, along with Danau Toba, Borobudur,
Mandalika and Labuan Bajo. To visit Likupang and being reviewed in the news stories. Not to mention,
‘extreme food’ has also become the headline. Bats,
Tomohon, one must arrive in Manado, the province’s snakes, field mice and dogs are categorised as extreme
gateway to North Sulawesi. The expert informant also food and are sold commonly in traditional markets
suggests that Manado possess diversity in its nature (it or restaurants. Manado is one city in Indonesia that
has mountain, sea, beach, and underwater):
serves this type of food, called extreme food, and it
The first is, of course, the beach, the sea… is sold in extreme markets. Religious tourism was
starting from Malalayang to Tuminting, then written once in the national newspaper (Sightseeing
towards Bunaken, not on the island, just on in Manado turns into an excursion to Tomohon (Bukit
the outskirts; everything passes through the Doa, Danau Linow, Bukit Tetetana). However, we do
sea coast, not to mention in Bunaken on sev- not find a single article on the craft or handicrafts of
eral islands of Bunaken, Siladen, Nain, it is also Manado. Crafts can bring the slogan “diversity in har-
very rich in beauty, the beach and the sea are mony” into something tangible. Tourists can bring
also under the sea, underwater… many fish the crafts home besides photos and videos. Thus, the
and sea animals are unique in the waters in business element in smart branding of a city stays as

72 | Proceedings of the 7th UNESCO UNITWIN Conference