7th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism
12 to 15 December 2022 at Nara, Japan
The theme of the Forum is Gastronomy Tourism for People and Planet: Innovate, Empower and Preserve. The Forum will focus on the role of gastronomy tourism in the following session titles.
Session I - Women and Youth: A spotlight on talent
In most regions of the world, women and youth make up the majority of the tourism workforce. Tourism has been proven to provide pathways to empowerment, and an opportunity to make a difference should be maximized with the development of policies that are gender and age responsive.
This session seeks to celebrate and empower the next generation of tourism leaders to help build a lasting legacy by providing women and youth with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to engage in productive activities, seize economic opportunities, exert influence in society, therefore transforming tourism not only in their communities but everywhere else, to ensure an inclusive and resilient recovery from the impacts of the pandemic, given the disproportionate effect suffered by these working forces in tourism.
Session II - Our planet our future: Sustainable Food
Food represents an entry point for circularity and transformation in tourism operations through sustainable procurement, sustainable menus and food waste prevention and reduction. However, many tourism businesses source their food from global markets with consequent leakages and increased carbon footprint. There are also high volumes of food waste in tourism operations with hotels sometimes wasting up to 60% of the food purchased. This problem represents globally the loss of over USD 100 billion on an annual basis for the industry, but also one of the biggest opportunities for savings through the optimization of food processes and integration of circular approaches.
One third of the food produced globally gets wasted. Action on food waste must be a top priority for all. The Global Roadmap on Food Waste Reduction in Tourism provides a consistent framework for tourism stakeholders to embrace the sustainable management of food so that it never becomes waste. The Roadmap will be launched on the occasion of the Panel Discussion.
Session III - Scaling up for the SDGs: UNWTO gastronomy tourism pitch challenge
Following a brief presentation by UNWTO providing insight on how the entrepreneurial ecosystem and its key stakeholders can collaborate to achieve the SDGs while ensuring revenue, scale and sustainability in tourism and food industries; selected finalists from the 3rd UNWTO Gastronomy Tourism Startup Competition, in collaboration with BCC will pitch their ideas to the audience, showcasing their gastronomy and tourism-based solutions in policy, in practice, in communities – but moreover, in sustainable action. A jury will deliberate and select the winner of the challenge to be announced at the end of the session.
