FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press Contact:

Erik Wolf, Executive Director, World Food Travel Association

(+1) 503-213-3700 (GMT – 8)     erik@worldfoodtravel.org

Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10, 2015

View in the comfort of your own Home or Office, save travel time & cost

(PORTLAND, OREGON, USA, 5 March 2015) – Today the World Food Travel Association (WFTA), the world’s leading authority on food and drink tourism, announced the world’s first 100% Online Food Travel Summit. Eight individual sessions from 8 world-class speakers spread conveniently over 2 days: Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10, 2015.

Budgets are constrained for many of us these days, and taking a week off to attend a conference is not always an option. An online summit is the perfect opportunity to share quality food tourism knowledge with trade and media professionals in the fastest growing sector of the tourism industry. And because no travel is involved, the Summit is 100% carbon-free.

Recognizing that budgets are slim for many in our industry, the Association is offering registration at only US$10 per session – an unheard of price of admission for this level of quality. Sessions are delivered in an online webinar format.

Eight truly world-class speakers and thought leaders in their industries are coming together for this very special event:

Executive Director, Omar Niode Foundation. Jakarta, Indonesia

Case Study: Indonesia as an Emerging Foodie Destination

News Presenter, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). London, United Kingdom

Wrapping it for Take-Away: Lessons Learned

Executive Director, Good Food Ireland. Dublin, Ireland

Do This Not That: Crafting a Foodie Destination

Founder and CEO, BookaLokal.com. New York, NY, USA and Brussels, Belgium

Peer to Peer Dining: It's All the Rage

Founder, Wellness Tourism Worldwide (WTW). Los Angeles, CA, USA

Wellness & Food: Peaceful Partners

Founder, Food Tour Pros Chicago. Illinois, USA

Getting Started as a Food/Drink Tour Operator

Chief Marketing Officer, SavorSearch.com. Vancouver, WA, USA

Reinventing Specialty Food & Drink Sales & Marketing

Executive Director, World Food Travel Association. Portland, Oregon, USA

Sustainability in Food Tourism

Food and drink consumption is the #1 traveler activity. One hundred percent (100%) of travelers eat and drink. 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, just to name a few examples.

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 are represented. Just a few more examples of other activities in which food travelers engage include:

• Visiting local or gourmet grocery stores to browse and purchase food souvenirs

• Tour of brewery, distillery or winery and/or meet the brewer/distiller/winemaker

• Cooking classes featuring local cuisine

• Visits to farms and food/drink factories

• Attend food or drink-themed events

• Sharing pictures and videos of food-centric activities with friends and family

• Use of 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 World Food Travel Association (WFTA) is a non-profit and non-governmental organization (NGO) and the world’s leading authority on food tourism. The Association is at the forefront of food and drink tourism development with cutting-edge resources for today’s food, drink, travel, hospitality and media professionals. The WFTA serves 35,000 professionals in 135 countries.

Contact Erik Wolf

erik@worldfoodtravel.org     (+1) 503-213-3700

World Food Travel Association (WFTA)

www.worldfoodtravel.org

food, drink, travel, hospitality, food tourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, food tours, restaurant, winery, brewery, World Food Travel Association, World Food Travel Summit, online education ###