2nd International Symposium on Tourism: International Symposium on Gastronomy and Wine Tourism, 1-4 November, 2007 Thessaloniki, Greece

HELEXPO, the official organizer of expositions and trade shows in Greece, and the Alexandreion Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki are co-organizing an international symposium on gastronomy and wine tourism from 1-4 November, 2007. The meeting will take place during the international tourism trade show called PHILOXENIA giving the opportunity for delegates to participate and benefit from both events.

PHILOXENIA is a major tourism event featuring and gathering hundreds of tourism and travel related exhibitors from all over Greece, south-east Europe and many other countries. The meeting is titled International Symposium on Gastronomy and Wine Tourism and will take place in the state-of-the-art facilities and installations of HELEXPO.

Symposium participants will have the opportunity to visit the trade show and attend many other of its parallel events. The city of Thessaloniki represents a major economic and cultural centre in Greece offering numerous opportunities for sight-seeing, shopping and entertainment. During the conference, the Municipality of Thessaloniki will be also organizing several other cultural events within the context of the DIMITRIA, a local festival event named after St Demetrius, the patron saint of the city. The surrounding area of Thessaloniki is also rich in attractions of every kind, including archaeological sites of the Macedon Dynasty such as Pella, Vergina and Dion, the unique Word Heritage sites of Mt Athos ─ Agion Oros ─ the holy State, full of Monasteries, and Mt Olympus, the hosting mountain of the twelve Gods of Ancient Greece.

It is the intention of the organizers to further continue the organization of these international tourism conferences during the next future years of PHILOXENIA in order to establish the trade show as an international forum of information exchange of best practices, networking and knowledge building in the travel, tourism and leisure industries.

Aim of the symposium

The symposium aims at enhancing and building new knowledge concerning gastronomy and wine tourism. Food & Beverage (F&B) supplies and catering supports every type of tourism and they are an integral and vital part of any tourism experience. Food and beverages are also considered as one of the major pull factors attracting visitors to a tourism destination. The whole tourism experience can be marred by inappropriate F&B supplies and catering. The culture and heritage identity of a tourism destination are also directly linked to the local food, beverages and the local cuisine.
Participants will have the opportunity to listen, to interact and network with experts in the field, and to enrich their experiences by attending several of the other parallel events of the PHILOXENIA tourism show.

Organizing and Advisory Committee

For a list of the members of the Organizing and Advisory Committee press here.

Speakers

The symposium features only invited speakers, all of them globally recognized and highly ranked in their respective field of expertise and research. So far, academics such as Evangelos Christou, Kevin Fields, Michael Hall, Olga Iakovidou, Greg Richards, Marianna Sigala, Dallen Timothy, Paris Tsartas as well as gastronomy experts such as Anestis Babatzimopoulos, Panagiotis Georgiadis, Myrsini Lambraki, Panagiotis Koukouvitis, Dimitris Michailidis, Chef Wan and Michael Zevgoulas have already confirmed their participation and presentation at the conference.

Who should they attend?

The proceedings, presentations and topics of this symposium would be of interest not only to academics and students involved in the field of gastronomy, wine and other related disciplines, but also to professionals, policy makers and any stakeholders involved in the tourism industry as well as to producers and providers of food and beverages.

Conference theme and sub-themes

This year’s symposium focuses on gastronomy and wine tourism. The sub-themes are as follows:

• Defining gastronomy and wine tourism. Relations and interactions with other forms of tourism. Gastronomy and culture. Nutritional acculturation.
• Historical evolution of gastronomy. When, why and how the ethic cuisines have evolved. Foodways as national heritage.
• Marketing gastronomy and wine tourism. How it connects with destination marketing.
• Sustainability issues in wine and gastronomy tourism.
• Case studies of gastronomy and wine tourism development, by region or subject.
• Common interregional and international gastronomy experiences.
• Managing gastronomy and wine tourism. The economics of catering: competition, accreditation and total quality management.
• Healthy nutrition and nutritional hygiene. Mediterranean diet and gastronomy and wine tourism.
• Tourism as a means of preserving national gastronomic heritage. Food and wine festivals, shows and events.
• The contribution, applications and role of new technologies to the promotion and marketing of gastronomy and wine tourism.
• The role of education and training in the provision of quality services in gastronomy tourism.
• Special issues in gastronomy for travellers (e.g. airline catering, cruise ship catering, catering for pilgrims).
• Gastronomy, agriculture and local produce. Rural tourism and traditional foods.
• Wine tourism as a special form of gastronomy tourism. Other beverages and tourism (e.g. whiskey tourism). Food routes, wine routes and other beverages routes (e.g. tsipouro routes).
• Food and wine chains and clustering.
• Tourism planning and cuisine regions.
• Globalization and gastronomy- and wine-based tourism. Internalization of local cuisines. Homogenization and fast food culture (McDonaldization). The de-McDonaldization movement. The slow food movement. European network of gastronomy culture.

Programme of the symposium

For the provisional programme of the symposium press here .

Parallel events

Under the auspices and events of PHILOXENIA, several other parallel events are being organised along the proceedings of this conference. Such events include the following:

• Two Taste Workshops.
• Visits to wineries in the regions of Halkidiki and Thessaloniki.
• Optional post-conference tour to the Vergina archaeological site and vineyards and wineries in the region of Central Macedonia.

Cost of participation

A registration fee of 100 Euro per conference participant is charged to cover for the cost of printing and other conference documentation, free access to the PHILOXENIA tourism show, coffee-breaks and participation in two Taste Workshops. The optional post-conference tour will cost 20 Euro.

Further information

Participants must take care of and organize their own accommodation and transport; they are also advised to make reservations for hotel accommodation as early as possible as, at the time of the PHILOXENIA tourism show, hotels in Thessaloniki are fully booked. For a list of hotels in Thessaloniki offering special rates, please click here. Registration forms and further details of the venue are available at the websites of HELEXPO, www.helexpo.gr the Department of Tourism Management, of the Alexandreion Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, www.tour.teithe.gr/dpt and of TravelDailyNews www.traveldailynews.com . For registration forms press here.
No official letters of invitation for Visa purposes will be sent to anyone wishing to participate in the Symposium.
Additional information about the conference will be published soon in a second announcement. However, should you have any question and/or need help please contact the co-chair of the conference Dr Thomas Mavrodontis at: mavrodon@otenet.gr