The project of Dénia as the Creative City of Gastronomy of UNESCO was present last Thursday at the Conference on Tourism and Sustainability in the Euroregion of the Mediterranean Arc held in Palma de Mallorca. The Creative City of Dénia was the experience chosen by the Valencian Tourism Agency to represent the Community at the table on Tourism and Gastronomy.
This day was organized by the Institute of Economy and Business Ignasi Villalonga and the tourism promotion institutions of the Generalitat Valenciana, the Consell de las Islas Baleares, the Generalitat de Catalunya and the University of the Balearic Islands.
The presentation of the Dénia project was in charge of the council of the Creative City, Pepa Font, and Antoni Reig, from the Office of Innovation and Creativity.
Pepa Font made an introduction on the characteristics of the city of Dénia and the role that tourism, the hospitality sector and the gastronomic offer have played in its development and pointed out that with the Creative City project it opens up a whole world of opportunities. The councilor advocated redirecting the tourism model with gastronomy as a differentiating element and engine of economic diversification and recovery of the landscape of the region of La Marina Alta.
Antoni Reig explained the details of the project that served as the basis for UNESCO's candidature for the Creative Cities network and which proposes a reactivation of the Agroalimentary System of the Marina Alta taking advantage of the strength of the tourism and hospitality sector. After defining the lines of action in areas such as training or promotion, Reig highlighted the celebration of the Gastronomic Festival D * na as the essence of the project: producers, chefs, entrepreneurs and public and private institutions involved in a future project.
Miquel Vicens, from the restaurant, also spoke at the Gastronomy table Can Calent, one of the most innovative chefs in Mallorca and committed to products and traditions; and Francesc Castro, director of the company Aborígens Barcelona, Dedicated to tourism and gastronomic advice. In the area of hospitality experiences, the entrepreneur of the sector Pere Joan Devesa presented the case of the hotel Alahuar of the Vall de Laguar.
During the conference, the problems of housing and holiday rentals were discussed, as well as the role of culture and heritage as tourism drivers. At the European level, the experiences of sustainable tourism that have been applied in cities such as Amsterdam or Venice were exposed.
