6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the Basque Culinary Center (BCC) with the support of the Government of Flanders co-organized the 6th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism on 1-4 June 2020 in Bruges, Belgium. This Forum will bring together Ministers of Tourism, representatives from National and Local Tourism Administrations, chefs, entrepreneurs, academia and related stakeholders from tourism and gastronomy.

Under the theme ‘Gastronomy Tourism: Promoting Rural Tourism and Regional Development’, and having the UNWTO 2020 Year of Tourism and Rural Development as a backdrop, the Forum will focus on the contribution of gastronomy tourism to social and economic integration, job creation and regional cohesion. Topics related to the role of gastronomy tourism in enhancing reputation of destination, empowering local community, as well as strategies that can be used by farmers and small scale rural food producers in using their culinary heritage to directly and indirectly promote tourism and thereby make a positive economic contribution at the local and regional level will be discussed throughout the event. In addition, this edition of the Forum will once again give a stage to the five finalists of the 2nd UNWTO / BCC Gastronomy Tourism Start-up Competition to pitch their ideas, providing them visibility and networking opportunities, as well as opening up financing and business development possibilities.

The UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism was created with the aim of promoting the exchange of experiences between experts in tourism and gastronomy, to identify good practices and to promote gastronomy tourism as a factor of development of countries.

Bruges, our venue for this year’s edition and one of Europe’s gastronomic centers, has put itself on the map with an impressive list of top restaurants. No fewer than 32 Bruges chefs are recommended by Michelin, GaultMillau and Bibgourmand.

For previous editions of the Forum, please click here.