Celebrating Africa’s culinary heritage: UN Tourism Forum stresses gastronomy as key tourism driver
As anticipation builds up for its inaugural edition, the UN Tourism, Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism for Africa is set to convene destinations and international experts to explore the transformative potential of gastronomy tourism.
Scheduled to take place from 26-28 July 2024 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, the forum aims to harness the power of gastronomy, tourism for the benefit of local communities and the environment, fostering regional cohesion and resilience.
The event will facilitate knowledge exchange and the sharing of best practices among participants.
Ahead of the forum, Sandra Carvao, Director of the Market Intelligence, Policies, and Competitiveness Department at UN Tourism, discussed the opportunities and anticipated impact of the event on the continent’s tourism sector in an interview with VoyagesAfriq.
“I think there are two big opportunities; one is to enhance the product component, and Africa has an amazing product component in terms of coffee and thematic routes that can be developed. This is something that has happened in other regions that we hope we can also bring to Africa and help countries look into the different products they have and say, how do I enhance the experience of someone who goes to a cocoa farm, how do I add value to that experience and create more benefits to the community?
“On the other side, we want to promote this concept that travellers want to experience local gastronomy because this is something we are seeing; people are more and more saying, I want to go to a place because I want to taste that specific dish or that specific restaurant,” she said.
The forum promises to feature expert discussions and a masterclass, with a focus on three main areas: strategy development, collaborations, and talent development. Carvao elaborated on these focus areas, emphasising the need for strategic planning and collaboration.
“The first one is on the need for countries to have a strategy, and we are happy we will have a high-level panel with some of the Ministries who will share how they see gastronomy tourism and how they are incorporating it into the national tourism policies, because it needs to be something that is systematically done, it needs to be something that is part of your strategy in tourism development.”
“How do we bring chefs and the tourism industry together? So, we are very happy that we’re bringing a significant number of chefs to this discussion to see how they can help the tourism boards and how the tourism boards can work with the chefs to bring out Africa’s gastronomy to the world.”
Additionally, “We will be talking about talent development, training, education, and highlighting some of the good initiatives that are already happening in Africa, hoping that they can expand on the continent,” Carvao emphasised.
The UN Tourism Regional Forum on Gastronomy Tourism for Africa will shine a spotlight on the continent’s rich and diverse gastronomic heritage, which is often overlooked by tourists. The forum will therefore, provide a platform for stakeholders to address the challenges and opportunities of promoting gastronomy as a key driver for Africa’s competitiveness in the global tourism landscape.
