FSUMMIT 2023 Brings Gastronomy and Hospitality Industry Stakeholders Together in Antalya

Hosted by Sözen Organization, which has realized events that create an impact in Turkey and the world, such as Gastromasa, Gastroway and GastroAntep, with its experience of more than 20 years, III. is organized with the aim of introducing Turkey's gastronomic values ​​and making our country the focus of gastronomy tourism. International Tourism Gastronomy Investments and Hospitality Summit FSUMMIT; It brought together tourism, gastronomy and hospitality sector stakeholders at Antalya Nest Convention Center. 20-21 Tourism professionals at FSUMMIT, which was held in March with the theme "ALL TOGETHER: DESTINATION & BRANDING"; It covered all aspects of the tourism, gastronomy and hospitality sector with panels covering many topics such as world trends, innovative approaches, sustainability and investment plans.

Speaking at the opening, Sözen Group CEO Gökmen Sözen thanked all the NGOs and institutions that supported the event and pointed out the importance of gastronomy tourism. Referring to Michelin and Gault & Millau, two of the world's most prestigious restaurant rating systems, Sözen stated: “There are two catalogs in the world that rate restaurants. One of them is Michelin; it has come to Turkey. This is very important for Turkey. It is very important for Turkey's restaurant and chef marketing. But we have also brought Gault & Millau, the world's second best catalog, to Turkey. For this, we targeted not only Istanbul but also four destinations. The Marmara Region, the Aegean Region, and we also added the Mediterranean Region. Because the Mediterranean is a city with very high tourism potential.” Sözen stated that they were delighted to bring Gault & Millau, which has offices in 17 countries worldwide, to Türkiye, and added, “Antakya and Gaziantep were very important. Many places in Gaziantep and Antakya were destroyed in the earthquake. I want to give you this good news: We will re-evaluate them. We will do this with the knowledge we have gained from the past.”

FSUMMIT, which brought a new breath to the sector by bringing together important names from both Turkey and the world under the same roof, this year will host national and international HoReCa, investors of the gastronomy, tourism and hospitality sectors, senior managers of hotels and restaurants, gastronomy professionals, F&B directors, recruiting managers, chefs, gastronomy writers, gastronomy and tourism industry supporters, travel agencies, marine tourism professionals and those who add value to the sector; among them Ali Bahar, Melih Şahinöz, Kaan Kaşif Kavaloğlu, Tayyar Zaimoğlu, Zeki Özen, Ramazan Bingöl, Ali Can Aksu, Osman Ayık, Cengiz Barut, Mehmet Bahar, Ece Tonbul, Uğur Talayhan, Hediye Gural, Sadettin Cesur, Ömür Akkor, Maksut Aşkar hosted Cihan Kıpçak and world-famous Michelin and Gault & Millau award-winning chefs Thomas Bühner, Yoshizumi Nagaya, Javier Cocheteaux, Javier Cocheteaux T., Joe Barza, Cristina Bowerman and Luigi Taglienti.

The summit, which focused on highlighting the destination attractiveness element for branding Turkey in gastronomy tourism, was instrumental in establishing new dialogues between stakeholders with many events held over two days. In panels and conferences where important building blocks such as the development of Turkish gastronomy tourism, boutique hotels, city hotels, restaurants in tourism destinations, food supply chains and travel agencies were examined in depth, investors, operators and gastronomy professionals from around the world and from Turkey shared their sectoral knowledge and experiences with the guests. In the organization, which included sessions as well as workshops, solution demonstrations and tasting experiences, visitors also had the opportunity to visit the stands where national and international food, beverage, industrial kitchen, tourism, table-top equipment companies and more exhibited their products.

Source: HORECA Trend and Sözen Group