The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Basque Culinary Center (BCC) are co-organising the 5th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, on 2-3 May 2019 in San Sebastián, Spain.
The forum is supported by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain, the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the City Council of San Sebastián, a city that has hosted the Forum every other year since its first edition, in 2015.
The main content and objectives of the forum were presented at a press conference at the UNWTO headquarters, presided by UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, Spain’s Secretary of State for Tourism, Isabel Oliver, and the Director of the Basque Culinary Center (BCC), Joxe Mari Aizega. They were accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Trade of the Basque Government, Isabel Muela, the Deputy for Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports of Gipuzkoa, Denis Itxaso, and the First Vice-Mayor of the City of San Sebastián, Ernesto Gasco, representing the key partners for the holding of this international event.
Through the World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, the UNWTO and the Basque Culinary Center aim to promote the exchange of experiences among tourism and gastronomy experts, and identify good practices.
The objective is to promote gastronomy tourism as a factor for the sustainable development of countries, by virtue of its close links with local products and culture. Consequently, it is a driver of professional training, job creation, and community development. This focus is the reason behind the partnership between UNWTO and the Basque Culinary Center.
Two feared killed, many vehicles damaged as APC factions clash in Lagos
Hence, the 5th forum will analyse the skills and knowledge that gastronomy tourism will require in the future and highlight gastronomy as one of the main motivations for travel. In addition, the event aims to identify favourable frameworks that promote entrepreneurship and the creation of ecosystems that, in turn, stimulate connections among emerging companies throughout the gastronomy tourism value chain.
The Forum will also address the potential of gastronomy tourism to promote better inclusion of disadvantaged groups and raise the quality of work environments. It will address some of the main challenges facing the sector, such as the gender wage gap, the employment of persons with disabilities, youth unemployment and the problem of seasonality, among others.
and then