Product, gastronomy and geography: three elements closely associated with tourism are showcased at the Gastronomic Forum Girona.
As part of the Gastronomic Forum held in Girona from 20th to 23rd February, the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona has implemented a series of actions to promote the gastronomic offer of the counties of Girona. Gastronomy is one of the linchpins of the heritage and cultural wealth that is an important ingredient of the array of tourism products offered by the destination. It also enjoys great prestige in Catalonia, the rest of Spain and abroad.
The Patronat de Turisme, sponsor of the Gastronomic Forum Girona, has made the most of the event to publicise and raise the profile of the Costa Brava and Pirineu de Girona tourism brands in various events and presentations. It also had a dedicated tourism information point at the fair. Furthermore, in conjunction with the Catalan Tourism agency and the Gastronomic Forum, the Patronat de Turisme organised a press trip for an international group of twelve journalists who attended the oenogastronomic fair and conference on all four days and discovered several aspects of the counties of Girona.
The Patronat de Turisme and the Gastronomic Forum have exploited all the synergies possible in terms of advertising and brand presence with the goal of raising the tourism profile of gastronomy in the counties of Girona.
New edition of the Gastronomic guide of the counties of Girona
The Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona presented the new edition of the Gastronomic Guide of the counties of Girona on 21st February at the Bookshop-Library of the Booksellers' Guild, situated in the Girona Exhibition Centre, coinciding with the presentation of the book 2011, 20 estrelles, which will be published by GastronomiaOci in April.
The guide aims to showcase the gastronomic wealth and values of the area. At 130 pages long (30 longer than the previous edition), it is devised as a guide or directory rather than a brochure and offers a selection of the restaurants featured by the top Spanish gastronomic guides.
The contents of the guide are divided into seven main sections that deal with aspects of the area's gastronomy, including its history, products, chefs and typical dishes, local food associations, DO Empordà wineries and a selection of outstanding restaurants in the area that feature in the top restaurant guides.
The guide contains more than 170 restaurants, including the restaurants that have been awarded Michelin stars this year, 44 DO Empordà wineries, a calendar of gastronomic fairs and campaigns, a map of the area and detailed information on each of the chosen restaurants, accompanied by a photograph.
The guide, which has been given a new format and design and which contains new high quality photos, has initially been published in Catalan and Spanish, with a print run of 7,500 copies in each language. It will soon be published in French and English. The Patronat de Turisme is distributing it through the tourism offices of the counties of Girona and the network of offices of the Catalan Tourism Agency, as well as at the fairs attended by the organisation. Furthermore, it is being sent to travel agents and specialised media outlets that are interested in discovering the area's gastronomy and to public bodies and organisations with competencies in such matters.
The collection of monographic tourism publications that the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona publishes on products such as gastronomy, hiking, golf, greenways, nautical activities, beauty and wellness tourism and culture trails is aimed at implementing and establishing products that broaden and give structure to the area's tourism product range. They also add to the number of publications targeted at the tourism interest offer of the counties of Girona with the goal of providing visitors to the destination with an accurate and satisfactory service.
12 food journalists invited to the Forum
Coinciding with the Gastronomic Forum Girona 2011, the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona participated actively in organising a press trip for an international group of food journalists with the aim of showcasing the cuisine, chefs, restaurants and various aspects of the tourism offer of the Costa Brava destination and its hinterland.
Over the course of four days, the journalists from Cook Òrt and Exploratrice de saveurs (France), La Cucina del Corriere della Sera, Buona Cucina, Gambero Rosso, Traveller and La Repubblica (Italy), Cook Magazine (Belgium), Miljonair (Holland), Foinse (Ireland) and Oje (Portugal) met chefs from the Girona area including Ferran Adrià, Joan Roca, Paco Pérez, Marc Gascons and Pere Arpa to exchange opinions and discuss gastronomy. The chefs acted as the hosts in Girona of these food journalists from six different countries. In addition, the group was taken on a tour of the area that included a cooking class and tasting session, enabling them to discover the local gastronomy.