The FoodTreX Innovation Summit, being held this year 100% online on 30 October, connects destinations, entrepreneurs and key stakeholders from around the world to focus on the business of culinary tourism development and promotion.
The pandemic came out of the blue and affected life, business and our industry in ways we could not even begin to imagine. Now that the pandemic is approaching its one-year mark, the food and beverage businesses linked to the tourism industry are looking ahead to an uncertain 2021. No tourists means no income, so what are destination marketers, culinary tour operators, cooking schools, culinary retail stores and other businesses to do?
This year’s Summit tackles many of the issues that are of critical interest in food tourism today. From the Candary Islands, Jo Hendrickx, Founder and CEO of Travel Without Plastic, will speak about ‘How food- and beverage- lovers can travel without using plastic’. London-based Carol Hay, CEO and Founder of McKenzie Gayle Ltd, will speak at a session on ‘How businesses can tackle the issue of cultural appropriation’. Lucy Charles, Operations Director at London’s Borough Market, will reveal the challenges and learning faced by the talented team who have worked with their traders to keep the celebrated foodie destination operating during the pandemic. Participants will have plenty of time to unpack the diversity of issues relating to where food and beverage tourism industry is headed in 2021 during a special session led by Erik Wolf, the Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association.
“Normally, the Summit would happen in person in London the day before World Travel Market (WTM) begins, but with travel restrictions in place, we decided to move this year’s Summit online,” said the respected Association Executive Director Erik Wolf. “That said, the Summit is still an official event of World Travel Market’s London Travel Week. We will be delivering another virtual summit on a food tourism issue for the WTM team in mid-November.”
Paid registration will include links to video recordings of all sessions. If the Summit takes place during the night where you are, or if you simply have something else going on that day, you can still get access to the event’s entire content. Watching live sessions, however, gives you the opportunity to offer comments and questions.
Food tourism is also known as culinary tourism and gastronomy tourism. While the all-encompassing “food tourism” term typically is used to describe food lovers who travel to experience culinary culture and heritage, it also includes all other types of food, beverage, agriculture and even gourmet experiences. In the value chain of the food and beverage industry, food tourism resides at the top because of the impact of its value-added products and experiences to an area’s economy.
Learn more at www.WhatIsFoodTourism.org
Top image: Borough Market by Volodymyr Hryschchenko
