Your Opinion Needed
We are asking for your help to complete a survey about a new product we are developing called SavorSearch.
SavorSearch will be an online business-to-business tool that helps buyers find a consistent, reliable and vetted source of quality food and drink products; and sellers find markets for those products.
Basically, you make or offer a unique food or drink product, service or experience and seek businesses that can help you market, sell and distribute it. We envision SavorSearch as a tool that will help you do just that.
This survey should take about 5 minutes and each entrant will be entered for a chance to win a free copy of our forthcoming book, Have Fork Will Travel!
Please find the survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9599BN2
Thank you for your time and help with SavorSearch!
Calling Advisory Board Volunteers
For the 2014 FoodWorx Planning Committee!
Our first meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 at the NW Neighborhood Cultural Center in Portland, OR from 5-6:30 pm.
At this first meeting we will introduce FoodWorx, discuss committees and nominate chairs and co-chairs for each committee. The 4 major committees needed to make the event a success are:
- Speakers & Programming;
- Marketing & Promotions;
- Financial & Sponsorships;
- Logistics & Volunteers
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP here.
For any other questions please contact Laura Morgan, WFTA Project Assistant at laura(at)worldfoodtravel(dot)org
If you haven’t marked your calendars yet, the next FoodWorx conference will be February 4th, 2014!
Successful Cascadian Cuisine Kickoff
Cascadian Cuisine Economic Development Initiative Kicks Off in Portland, Oregon
Tourism offices, food & drink producers, association leaders, wineries, brewers, chefs and journalists met for a full day of strategic planning & thought leadership
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, including how to get involved with this project, please contact Executive Director, Erik Wolf at erik(at)worldfoodtravel(dot)org or call (+1) 503-213-3700.
Portland, Oregon (May 7, 2013) – Last week the World Food Travel Association (WFTA) officially kicked off Cascadian Cuisine, a new initiative focused on the development of a regional food and drink brand as a tool for economic development. The goal is that the new regional food brand will drive consumer awareness, create jobs and support the tourism efforts of communities across the region. At the meeting, the Association welcomed some of the most fervent food, drink and tourism players in the region to discuss topics such as borders, agricultural hallmarks, local entrepreneurship and sustainability in Cascadia.
Erik Wolf, Executive Director of WFTA explained the vision, “At its very core, Cascadian Cuisine is about economic and community development – bringing awareness, infusing fresh cash from outside the area, creating jobs, and preserving communities and the culinary culture of our region.”
Cascadian Cuisine draws deeply on the passion and unsurpassed quality of food and drink found in the bio-region that includes northwestern California, Oregon, Washington, southwestern British Columbia, Idaho and western Montana. In other words, as Jason French, Chef/Owner at Portland’s popular Ned Ludd Restaurant, says “the quality of our food and drink is very much grounded in the quality of the agricultural products found in Cascadia.”
Jason Knibbs, a tourism specialist from Vancouver, BC, Canada said he was “glad that the Association started the discussion about Cascadian Cuisine – a regional partnership like this has great opportunities.”
For anyone interested in getting involved with this initiative, the volunteer group holds monthly conference calls, as well as quarterly in-person meetings at destinations throughout Cascadia. The group’s next steps include:
• Create of an advisory board of regional thought leaders
• Create a business plan and strategy for Cascadian Cuisine
• Secure celebrity chef “faces of Cascadia”
• Reach out to tourism office as collaborative partners
• Develop programming and promotional materials
The World Food Travel Association is the leading authority on food tourism and the world’s largest community of food and drink tourism professionals, with over 18,000 members in 135 countries. The Association’s mission is to preserve and promote culinary cultures through travel. For more information about the World Food Travel Association please visit www.WorldFoodTravel.org
For partnership opportunities please contact the Association’s Relationship Manager, Maura White at maura(at)worldfoodtravel(dot)org
To stay up to date on the initiative please follow Cascadian Cuisine’s page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CascadianCuisine or follow the Association’s tweets at @worldfoodtravel
Keywords: Cascadian, economic development, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, California, food, chef, agriculture, thought leadership, sustainability
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Food Very Important for Tour Participants
Food is very important for tour participants, and failure to specialize in the expanding niche of food tourism is making travel sellers miss lucrative opportunities, according to an article just published in Tourism Review. The article also quotes the Association’s Chairman of the Board Harold Partain.
Association Quoted in Travel Weekly
Michelle Baran at Travel Weekly wrote a stellar article about food tourism for the magazine. She quotes the World Food Travel Association in her discussion of the industry and its evolution. A great read! You can read the entire article here.
We Love Gothenburg
Video about why we chose to hold the World Food Travel Summit in Gothenburg, Sweden’s Food Capital and why you can’t miss the world’s largest gathering of food and drink tourism professionals! View the video and share it here.
Congrats to newest certification graduate … Karen Trevino
World Food Travel Association Certifies Trevino As Culinary Travel Professional
(Portland, Oregon, USA, April 9, 2013) – Karen Trevino, hospitality instructor with the Culinary Arts & Hospitality Manager Institute (CAHMI) at Pulaski Tech, recently graduated from the World Food Travel Association’s Certified Culinary Travel Professional Program (CCTP).
“CAHMI is proud of Karen’s accomplishment,” said Todd Gold, executive director. “Her many years of experience in the tourism industry and dedication to learning more make her a valuable part of our team. The CAHMI students are fortunate to have an instructor with the CCTP.”
The CCTP program is comprehensive and is recognized world-wide with a high level of credibility. The World Food Travel Association is the industry leader in the culinary field.
A certified travel industry specialist (CTIS) with a Master of Arts in Tourism, Trevino is only one of two people in Arkansas with the CCTP. She is the previous executive director of the North Little Rock Visitors Bureau and resides in Maumelle, Arkansas. Trevino has over thirty years in the tourism and hospitality industry. She was the Director of Operations for the Arkansas Hospitality Association and was employed at the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism for over fifteen years. Trevino is the awarded the ”Tourism Person of the Year” recognition in 2011 at the Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
The World Food Travel Association (WFTA) is the world’s largest food tourism trade association and the leading authority about food tourism, with over 18,000 members in 135 countries. The Association promotes food, drink & culinary cultures through travel. It serves as the central hub connecting key industry segments and partners with business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) relationships.
For more information, visit www.worldfoodtravel.org or contact Erik Wolf, Executive Director, erik(at)worldfoodtravel(dot)org (+1) 503-213 3700.
Cascadian Cuisine…
meeting in Portland on May 1 at Bridgeport Brewing. Be part of building an active food/drink brand for our region. Read the detailed agenda here or register directly here.
Registration Open
for the World Food Travel Summit. Head over to the Summit website and check out the Speakers & Sessions, and Pricing & Package.
For Travel Agents
The Association’s Chairman of the Board Harold Partain was recently interviewed by the Travel Market Report. In the article, Mr. Partain shares his experience and insight as to why travel agents should focus on the food tourism niche, and what they stand to gain by doing so. Read the full article here.
