New Culinary Capitals Program Showcases Great Food In Unknown Destinations

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Mar 03, 2021, 08:00 ET

LONDON, March 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Food Travel Association (WFTA), the world's leading authority on food and beverage tourism, announced today the launch of Culinary Capitals, a new program designed to help regenerate tourism specifically to destinations that are not as well known for their quality food and beverage products and experiences.

While the world waits for the pandemic to end, smart destinations and businesses are planning, innovating, and preparing for business as usual when tourism resumes. And tourism offices of all sizes are looking for new ways to innovate and get noticed by food-loving travelers, to compete with the larger, well-known culinary destinations. Culinary Capitals helps them to do exactly that.

Culinary Capitals is a three-pronged program to help develop and promote local and unique food and beverage products and experiences in lesser-known culinary destinations. An application process evaluates four essential criteria (Culinary Culture, Culinary Strategy, Culinary Promotion and Culinary Community) to assess whether the destination has what it takes to become a Culinary Capital. If the destination passes the assessment, it becomes a Culinary Capital. The WFTA provides accredited destinations a range of benefits that include a full year's worth of strategy and marketing activities.

The WFTA's Executive Director and Founder Erik Wolf said, "The best-known culinary destinations like San Francisco, Hong Kong, Paris and famous wine regions like Napa and Burgundy should rebound relatively quickly when travel resumes. However, smaller and lesser-known destinations need every advantage, and that is what Culinary Capitals is designed to provide. It puts those areas on the map of consumers who travel for unique and memorable food and beverage experiences. And those consumers are already adding to their must-visit bucket lists for when travel resumes."

The program has already caught the eye of St. George's, the capital of the Caribbean island of Grenada. The tourism team there is working on its application and the destination looks set to become the first Culinary Capital. "We are excited to be a part of Culinary Capitals. It is exactly what our destination needs to refine our culinary positioning. Historically we are known as the "Spice of the Caribbean", being blessed with a plethora of spices, herbs and fruits, all organically grown. A new visitor profile has emerged due to the pandemic, and the program perfectly aligns with Grenada's tourism product that offers a distinctive gastronomic experience that rejuvenates health, wellness in an outdoor oasis," said Sibby Dixon, Research Officer at the Grenada Tourism Authority.

Interested destinations can request more information about Culinary Capitals by contacting the WFTA on [email protected].

Pictures and biography of Erik Wolf available here.

Royalty-free food images for one-time use available here.

ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD TRAVEL ASSOCIATION (WFTA)

The WFTA is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2001 by Erik Wolf, its current Executive Director. It is recognized as the world's leading authority on food and beverage tourism (a.k.a. culinary tourism and gastronomy tourism). The WFTA's mission is to preserve and promote culinary cultures through hospitality and tourism. Every year, the organization provides professional programs and services to nearly 200,000 professionals in 150+ countries. Learn more on WFTA's website.

Media Contact: Erik Wolf (+44) 7827 582 554 [email protected]

SOURCE World Food Travel Association