IMIC 2013: Tourism and Gastronomy: Moving forward

17-18 October 2013, Santorini

The correlation of a destination and a gastronomic experience is a major issue for anyone planning a strategy to attract tourists.

Registering the local products, recipes and services is an important first step towards the creation of gastronomic portfolio. Even though this happens systematically, albeit with varied success, it is not enough.

No matter how good they are, local products, food and wine, can not create touristic demand unless they represent the identity and uniqueness of a destination.

Developing gastronomic tourism should not only be the concern of local restaurants and of any specialized travel agencies. It should also be the concern of all tourist activities and of the whole of the food and beverages industry. Most importantly though it should also be the concern of the residents of the region who should support the effort and understand the overall benefit.

The prerequisite of success is the understanding of the needs, the identification of the expectations of the visitor who chooses a destination based on gastronomic satisfaction and most importantly the in-depth knowledge of the special characteristics of this elite clientele.

In the two previous IMIC, of 2012 and 2011, we worked on almost all the theoretical issues around Tourism and Gastronomy and participated in a lot of very interesting presentations of practical applications of independent business efforts.

In IMIC 2013 we will seek to define and discuss the necessary "next step". The experience gained from the success of the "2013 Year of Gastronomy in Santorini" will be especially constructive.

Our goal for IMIC 2013 is a meeting of creation and harvest.