Source: UN Tourism

Around 600 participants from 52 countries gathered at the 4th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism (Bangkok, Thailand, 30 May to 1 June 2018). Organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Government of Thailand, in collaboration with the Basque Culinary Center, participants addressed topics ranging from the role of technology in achieving sustainable development, to linking the whole tourism value chain to gastronomy.

Partnering with technology providers is among UNWTO's main priorities. Against this backdrop, creating and sharing knowledge and policy lessons on the digital transformation was among the central aspects of this year's edition, which included the participation of technology startups of the host country (Bangkok Food Tours, HiveSters, LocalAlike and Trawell).

The startups presented workshops to all participants focusing on the gastronomy tourism offer in Thailand, how to use technology to better reach tourists and showcasing their initiatives.

"Gastronomy is a major driver for tourists when choosing a destination, inspite of which the potential of gastronomy tourism has still to be seized as an intangible cultural heritage. Gastronomy tourism is about harnessing technology to tell a story about people and places to preserve and promote authenticity in local communities", added UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, underscored how "local communities can strengthen themselves and feel proud of their culture through gastronomy tourism". Referring to the overall economic impact, he added that "agriculture and tourism are significant job creators throughout the country, and Thai cuisine helps us boost tourism expenditure".

The UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism aims to promote innovative ideas that can help the development of gastronomy tourism worldwide. The ideas put forward during the previous editions of this forum are always founded upon sustainable development and new product development in gastronomy tourism.

On the occasion, UNWTO launched the Report on Gastronomy Tourism: The Case of Japan.

The 2019 edition of the UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism will take place in San Sebastian, Spain followed by Flandres, Belgium, in 2020.

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About UN Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UN Tourism promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.

Our Priorities

Mainstreaming tourism in the global agenda: Advocating the value of tourism as a driver of socio-economic growth and development, its inclusion as a priority in national and international policies and the need to create a level playing field for the sector to develop and prosper.

Promoting sustainable tourism development: Supporting sustainable tourism policies and practices: policies which make optimal use of environmental resources, respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities and provide socio-economic benefits for all.

Fostering knowledge, education and capacity building: Supporting countries to assess and address their needs in education and training, as well as providing networks for knowledge creation and exchange.

Improving tourism competitiveness: Improving UN Tourism Members' competitiveness through knowledge creation and exchange, human resources development and the promotion of excellence in areas such as policy planning, statistics and market trends, sustainable tourism development, marketing and promotion, product development and risk and crisis management.

Advancing tourism's contribution to poverty reduction and development: Maximizing the contribution of tourism to poverty reduction and achieving the SDGs by making tourism work as a tool for development and promoting the inclusion of tourism in the development agenda.

Building partnerships: Engaging with the private sector, regional and local tourism organizations, academia and research institutions, civil society and the UN system to build a more sustainable, responsible and competitive tourism sector.

Our Structure

Members: An intergovernmental organization, UN Tourism has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

Organs: The General Assembly is the supreme organ of the Organization. The Executive Council take all measures, in consultation with the Secretary-General, for the implementation of the decisions and recommendations of the General Assembly and reports to the Assembly.

Secretariat: UN Tourism headquarters are based in Madrid, Spain. The Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General and organized into departments covering issues such as sustainability, education, tourism trends and marketing, sustainable development, statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), destination management, ethics and risk and crisis management. The Technical Cooperation and Silk Road Department carries out development projects in over 100 countries worldwide, while the Regional Departments for Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East serve as the link between UN Tourism and its 160 Member States. The Affiliate Members Department represents UN Tourism's 500 plus Affiliate members.

Marcelo Risi
UNWTO Communications & Publications Programme
(+34) 91 567 81 60
UN Tourism