Paris inaugurates the European tour of Bus Gourmet Italy - News from Embassies

Paris hosted the inaugural stop of the European tour of Bus Gourmet Italia, the project of ENIT spa as part of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World. After the French capital, the bus continues from today on its journey to Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Stockholm, Vienna and London, ending in Rome on Dec. 10, bringing across Europe a traveling experience that combines food and wine, culture and tourism promotion.

The scenic tour aboard the Bus Gourmet Italia was held in the presence of Italian Ambassador to UNESCO Liborio Stellino and the head of the Economic Office of the Italian Embassy, Francesco Calderoli welcomed by Federica Galbesi, Head of Enit Paris. The guests were able to taste excellences of the Italian culinary tradition while passing through the most iconic places in Paris, in a setting set up to enhance the encounter between Italian flavors, territories and style.

The initiative strengthens the indissoluble link between food and wine and tourism, a central binomial in Enit’s promotional activities. In fact, food and wine tourism represents one of the
most dynamic segments of the sector: in recent years it has involved more than a third of international travelers to Italy and generates an economic value estimated in tens of billions of euros, thanks to the combination of certified products, taste itineraries and authentic experiences in the territories. In this context, Ivana Jelinic, CEO of ENIT S.p.A., stressed that “wine and food tourism is now one of the main drivers of Italian attractiveness. We are talking – she said – about
a sector that is growing steadily and contributes significantly to the national tourism economy. With the Bus Gourmet Italy we bring to Europe an experiential tale of the
our flavors and territories, enhancing the immense Italian food and wine heritage while strengthening relations with the international trade. This tour represents an original way to consolidate strategic B2B relationships and to promote Italy through an
innovative and high-impact model.”
For the Ambassador of Italy to France, Emanuela D’Alessandro, “just as the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, an event promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation now in its tenth edition, which every year sees our diplomatic-consular network promote initiatives to enhance Italian food and wine excellence everywhere in the world, so too the Bus Gourmet Italia in its stages in the coming days will bring Italian cuisine to Europe, after having started right here in Paris. In France
we have organized more than 40 events from Lyon to Marseille, from Paris to Nice, from Strasbourg to Nancy to promote our cuisine between culture, health and innovation.”