7TH UNWTO WORLD FORUM ON GASTRONOMY TOURISM - Session II - Our planet our future: Sustainable Food

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Basque Culinary Center (BCC), the Japan Tourism Agency and the Nara Prefectural Government have the pleasure to announce that the 7th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism will take place on 12-15 December 2022, in Nara, Japan.

Under the theme ‘Gastronomy Tourism for People and Planet: Innovate, Empower and Preserve’, the Forum will focus on the role of gastronomy tourism in promoting women empowerment and young talents, advancing cultural exchange and authenticity, enhancing the value for destinations and food producers, as well as showcasing best practices in destination branding through gastronomy tourism and supporting a Global Roadmap on Food Waste Reduction in Tourism.

Learn more about the 7th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism here.

During the forum, the session on "Our planet our future: Sustainable Food" is organized.

Watch the recording here.

Food represents an entry point for circularity and transformation in tourism operations through sustainable procurement, sustainable menus and food waste prevention and reduction. However, many tourism businesses source their food from global markets with consequent leakages and increased carbon footprint. There are also high volumes of food waste in tourism operations with hotels sometimes wasting up to 60% of the food purchased. This problem represents globally the loss of over USD 100 billion on an annual basis for the industry, but also one of the biggest opportunities for savings through the optimization of food processes and integration of circular approaches. One third of the food produced globally gets wasted. Action on food waste must be a top priority for all.

The Global Roadmap on Food Waste Reduction in Tourism provides a consistent framework for tourism stakeholders to embrace the sustainable management of food so that it never becomes waste.

The Roadmap which is developed withn the framework of the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme will be launched on the occasion of this Panel Discussion.

Please find the draft for consultation here and submit your comments.

Moderator: Virginia Fernandez-Trapa, Programme Officer, Sustainable Development of Tourism, UNWTO

Speakers:

Sakiko Yamada, CEO, Food Loss Bank (Japan)

Iñaki Gaztelumendi, Technical Coordinator, Basque Culinary Center (Spain)

Benjamin Lephilibert, CEO, Lightblue Consulting (Thailand)

Vincent Benjamin, Commercial Director, Winnow Solutions in APAC (Singapore)

Eijiro Yamakita, President and CEO, JTBCorp (Japan)

Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited (India)

Maddalena Fossati, Editor-in-Chief of La Cucina Italiana and Condé Nast Traveller (Italy)

Published on December 12, 2022