Convention to unite Food & Beverage and Travel & Hospitality professionals.
PORTLAND, ORE. – The World Food Travel Association (WFTA), the world's authority on food and beverage tourism, announced the speaker lineup for its 2017 FoodTrekking World convention and consumer show, taking place April 1-4, 2017, in Portland, Oregon, USA. Eight world-class, inspirational speakers and leaders in food tourism thought-leadership will share their knowledge to help attendees take advantage of the intersection of food and travel.
"Food and drink consumption is the number one traveler activity," said Erik Wolf, Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association. "Our goal is to unite the food & beverage and travel & hospitality industries in order to create connections and more opportunities for food tourism – ultimately leading to economic growth and increased traveler satisfaction."
Food and drink tourism is much more than visiting restaurants and wineries. In total, 20 different sectors of the food, drink, travel and hospitality industries will be represented at the convention. The speaker line-up and topics to be discussed at this year's convention include:
- Adnan Nawaz, News Presenter, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Official Emcee of FoodTrekking World
- Stephen Joyce, CEO, Rezgo.com, The Next Big Thing in Tech for Food Tourism
- Gabi Logan, Travel Journalist and author of The Six-Figure Travel Writing Road Map, Building Your Food Tourism Brand Story
- Benjamin Brown, Content Strategy and Development Lead for Princess Cruises, What's Your Food Tourism Content Strategy?
- Risa Meynarez, CEO, Consumers Everywhere, It's Time to Be Fearless: Food Tourism & Millennials
- Steven Shomler, Author and Speaker, Consultant and Culinary Storyteller, The Future of Social Media in Food Tourism
- Chase Ramsey, Actor & Director/Host, California Dream Eater, The Road Less Traveled
- Erik Wolf, Executive Director, World Food Travel Association, Keynote: State of the Food Travel Industry & the Food Tourism 2025 Initiative
"It's no secret that 100% of travelers eat and drink," added Wolf. "They can return home with memories of a chain coffee and hamburger, or they can return sharing stories of unique and memorable local delicacies like authentic brioche in France, strawberry juice in Brazil or sumac in Jordan, to name a few examples. Our mission is to enhance the traveler experience through food – and create new opportunities for food & beverage and travel & hospitality operators alike."
Examples of food tourism activities are wide-ranging and can include:
- Visiting local or gourmet grocery stores to browse and purchase food souvenirs
- Tours of breweries, distilleries or wineries and/or meeting the brewer/distiller/winemaker
- Cooking classes featuring local cuisine
- Visits to farms and food/drink factories
- Attending food or drink-themed events
- Sharing pictures and videos of food-centric activities with friends and family
- Using multiple dining smartphone apps and hard-to-find websites to dig deep to uncover locals-only foodie secrets
- Walking or multi-day escorted tours of cities and regions featuring culinary highlights
The 2017 FoodTrekking World Convention and Consumer Show will include programming for industry professionals, as well as opportunities for consumers to explore the intersection of food and travel. A full event schedule follows:
Event Timeline
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Delegate arrivals and food tours of Portland
Sunday, April 2, 2017
Day: FoodTrekking Expo for consumers
Evening: Trade delegate opening reception
Monday, April 3, 2017
Day 1 of FoodTrekking World for the trade
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Day 2 of FoodTrekking World for the trade
2017 FoodTrekking Awards ceremony
The venue for all events is the Ambridge Event Center, 1333 Northeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97232.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
