Madrid, Oct 13 (EFE).- Getting to know the Ibero-American cities with your palate, enjoying genuine dishes that combine tradition, innovation, exchange of products and fusion between America and Europe, has become a powerful tourist attraction that the Union of Cities Ibero-American Capitals (UCCI) wants to promote.
The pioneering study in the region ‘A journey of flavors: Principles for a sustainable development of gastronomic tourism in Ibero-American cities’, promoted by the UCCI, focuses on the singularities and roots of this gastronomic wealth and variety. And in all its tourism potential for travelers to discover “flavorful” destinations.
It was recently presented at the Casa de América in Madrid, as well as a monographic issue of the Ibero-American Cities Magazine dedicated to the value of cuisine from the land to the plate.
According to the UCCI, gastronomy is a vehicle of cultural transmission, intergenerational interaction and social inclusion. And Ibero-American cuisine in particular, understood as the sum of the cuisines of the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America and the Caribbean, represents the greatest economic, social, cultural and food exchange that humanity has known.
The report is the result of a research and analysis process in which specialists and UCCI cities have participated, coordinated by Iñaki Gaztelumendi, consultant at Verne Tourist Experts.
The project is part of the Ibero-American Future Tourism Strategy, developed with UN Tourism as a model for UCCI cities based on the principles of innovation, sustainability, accessibility and safety.
This issue of the magazine, also published in Portuguese, includes culinary reviews of Ibero-American cities and articles by some of the most important chefs of the moment.
«A tourist attraction with great potential for cities»
“Talking about city gastronomy is talking about identity, culture, economy, a social movement” and this report is a “journey of flavors,” summarizes the general secretary of the UCCI, the Spanish Almudena Maíllo, in statements to EFE..
He rejects the idea that gastronomy is an element less valued than others when tourists decide to travel to a city, but rather “just the opposite.”
«Really, gastronomy has become the great potential that cities have to make their culture, their customs, their values known. Because, when you take a trip, when you go sightseeing, there is something you always do, which is eat,” he explains.
And the tourist, he continues, “is increasingly looking for that experience, how different each of the destinations is through gastronomy,” so he has acquired “his own specific weight within a trip to a tourist destination.”
She cites the example of Madrid, where she is the delegate councilor for Tourism. According to surveys, gastronomy has already become the second reason why tourists choose the capital of Spain, which also offers a wide variety of Latin American establishments resulting from immigration.
In short, an Ibero-American gastronomy to know, celebrate, share and socialize, not only in restaurants, but also in the markets, he summarizes.
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