MANILA, 8 August 2023: The Philippines Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco highlighted the importance of ‘culinary tourism’, saying it was high on the DOT’s prioritisation list to diversify the country’s multidimensional tourism product offerings.
She made the statement last week in a welcome address to the World Chefs Asia President Forum 2023 in Pasay City.
Worldchefs is a professional organisation dedicated to maintaining and improving the culinary standards of global cuisines through membership education, training, and professional development.
Founded in October 1928 at the Sorbonne in Paris, the World Association of Chefs’ Societies is a global network of chefs’ associations.
During her welcome speech, Secretary Frasco expressed her gratitude to the chefs that purveyed their love for food resulting in the propagation of their respective countries’ cultures and identities.
“Our President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. envisions the Philippines to have a primary role in Asia in terms of being able to reintroduce itself to the world in the aspect of fun and adventure and, importantly, to allow you to get to know the heart and soul of the Filipinos that lies in our history, our heritage, our identity, and our living cultural traditions, including, and especially, our culinary traditions,” explained Secretary Frasco.
The three-day forum, co-hosted by DOT’s attached agency, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, brought together some 100 delegates from 18 countries in the food and beverage (F&B) and hospitality industries, including leaders, professionals, educators, suppliers, Philippine Culinary Cup judges, and competitors from member countries of different Asia-Pacific chefs associations.
“Under the National Tourism Development Plan recently approved by President Marcos, one of the objectives identified by the DOT is the importance of multidimensional tourism to ensure that when tourists come to the Philippines, they can enjoy the width, length and breadth of our offerings. And that is why we’re here to support culinary and gastronomic tourism,” the tourism chief added.
The LTB Philippines Chefs Association, the premier chefs’ association in the Philippines and a national member of the World Association of Chefs’ Societies or Worldchefs, organised the event.
The World Chefs Asian Presidents Forum, which aims to promote camaraderie among chefs in the Asia-Pacific region, included various activities, such as the presentation of the latest gastronomical trends, sharing knowledge on sustainability practices, conducting culinary education sessions, the launch of the regional e-book, global chefs challenge, and community outreach in Baseco Port Area, Manila.
Worldchefs director for Asia Willment Leong, LTB Philippines Chefs Association president Chef Carlo Miguel, LTB Philippines Chefs Association vice president James Antolin, DOT Undersecretary Ferdinand Jumapao, and representatives from TPB joined the chefs and delegates during the forum.
(Source: DOT)
