Traditional spa wafers, Czech and Moravian wine or Jelínek slivovitz. Visitors to the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival 2024 in London had the opportunity to taste not only these domestic delicacies. In the premises of the Czech exposition, which was prepared for the fourth time by CzechTourism representatives in cooperation with key partners - Ensana Health Spa Hotels, the National Wine Centre and the Tourism Centre - South Moravia, visitors to the prestigious event could taste and experience the best that Czech gastronomy and culture has to offer. The main objective was to introduce destinations outside Prague. The festival was attended by over 8,000 visitors.
The National Geographic Traveller Food Festival is traditionally held at London's v Business Design Centre. And this year was no different. Food and drink lovers headed to the venue to learn about the latest gastronomic trends in a range of culinary workshops or live cooking demonstrations. There were also food tastings, through which exhibitors and countries presented themselves. The Czech stand was a great success, which this year was larger, more prominent and with an even wider reach than in previous years. Representatives of Czechia provided visitors with information from the field of gastronomy as well as details of the individual regions to which the exhibited specimens related. Interested visitors could thus taste Czechia through several senses by means of beautiful photographs and captivating videos or by tasting individual foods and drinks, especially domestic wines.
"Wine tourism plays a key role in the development of not only domestic tourism. This can be clearly seen in Italy and France, where last year local producers offered over 380 wine tours and tastings per 1 million inhabitants. Australia, Portugal and South Africa are close behind in this respect. Czechia can draw on the experience of Portugal. Over the last few years, the country has systematically focused on developing wine tourism as one of the priority attractions for foreign visitors. And data show that it is succeeding in establishing itself as one of the world's leading destinations for this type of tourism. Events such as the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival help spread the fame of our wine far beyond the borders of Czechia," says Director of the Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism František Reismüller.
"I am extremely proud that we have succeeded in fulfilling the main objective of our participation in this prestigious event, namely to increase interest in Czech regions among British visitors. We have put a lot of effort into the preparation and our hard work has been accompanied by great results. It has been challenging, but the result is worth it. The presentation of our beautiful and interesting country took place under the auspices of the Czech Embassy in within the framework of the project PROPED and aroused great interest and admiration of British and international visitors," says Director of the Foreign Representation of CzechTourism in London Katarína Hobbs.
One of the highlights of the Czech exposition was a guided tasting in the Wine and Spirit Theatre.
"We presented Czechia as an attractive destination for wine tourism and it must be said that our wines surprised the visitors with their quality and variety. Eighty visitors interested in international wines and wine tourism attended the presentations daily," adds Project Manager National Wine Centre Patrik Kubát.
The festival itself was preceded by a workshop at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London to introduce Czech partners and their products. It was attended by 50 British travel agents and home workers, who made direct contacts for future cooperation in promotion and sales.
"I rate the networking evening with British travel agencies as very beneficial. Thanks to the meeting, we gained valuable information about key factors and interests that influence the decision to travel to Czechia. I was delighted with the positive reactions and interest in our country. I believe it was one of the first steps towards a more sustainable tourism in whole Czechia," summarizes Tereza Křížová from Tourism Centre – South Moravia.
"I am grateful for the invitation to the CzechTourism event held at the Czech Embassy in London. I had the opportunity to meet a number of interesting people from the industry, to gain valuable contacts with travel agency representatives and to introduce our hotel and brand to them. Although we are still building our name on the market, we are already seeing positive reactions and I am very pleased that many people prefer us to the established chains. A big thank you to the organizers for organizing this event, which, together with other activities of CzechTourism, strengthens awareness abroad not only about Prague, but all Czech and Moravian regions," says one of the participants of the joint meeting Leisure Sales Manager Almanac X Alcron Prague hotel Katarína Koropčáková.
"The presentation at the National Geographic Food Festival was a unique opportunity to meet British buyers. The atmosphere and format of the presentations were very productive and inspiring. They brought great business contacts and new opportunities for the promotion of Czech products," concludes Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing of Medical Spa Mariánské Lázně, Ensana Europe Patrícia Irlveková.
This year's National Geographic Traveller Food Festival confirmed that the Czech and Moravian regions are gaining popularity not only among the British. Next year, the prestigious event full of recipes, ingredients and stories related to gastronomy will take place on 19 – 20 July 2025.
"Wine tourism plays a key role in the development of not only domestic tourism. This can be clearly seen in Italy and France, where last year local producers offered over 380 wine tours and tastings per 1 million inhabitants. Australia, Portugal and South Africa are close behind in this respect. Czechia can draw on the experience of Portugal. Over the last few years, the country has systematically focused on developing wine tourism as one of the priority attractions for foreign visitors. And data show that it is succeeding in establishing itself as one of the world's leading destinations for this type of tourism. Events such as the National Geographic Traveller Food Festival help spread the fame of our wine far beyond the borders of Czechia," says Director of the Czech Tourist Authority – CzechTourism František Reismüller.
"I am extremely proud that we have succeeded in fulfilling the main objective of our participation in this prestigious event, namely to increase interest in Czech regions among British visitors. We have put a lot of effort into the preparation and our hard work has been accompanied by great results. It has been challenging, but the result is worth it. The presentation of our beautiful and interesting country took place under the auspices of the Czech Embassy in within the framework of the project PROPED and aroused great interest and admiration of British and international visitors," says Director of the Foreign Representation of CzechTourism in London Katarína Hobbs.
One of the highlights of the Czech exposition was a guided tasting in the Wine and Spirit Theatre.
"We presented Czechia as an attractive destination for wine tourism and it must be said that our wines surprised the visitors with their quality and variety. Eighty visitors interested in international wines and wine tourism attended the presentations daily," adds Project Manager National Wine Centre Patrik Kubát.
The festival itself was preceded by a workshop at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in London to introduce Czech partners and their products. It was attended by 50 British travel agents and home workers, who made direct contacts for future cooperation in promotion and sales.
"I rate the networking evening with British travel agencies as very beneficial. Thanks to the meeting, we gained valuable information about key factors and interests that influence the decision to travel to Czechia. I was delighted with the positive reactions and interest in our country. I believe it was one of the first steps towards a more sustainable tourism in whole Czechia," summarizes Tereza Křížová from Tourism Centre – South Moravia.
"I am grateful for the invitation to the CzechTourism event held at the Czech Embassy in London. I had the opportunity to meet a number of interesting people from the industry, to gain valuable contacts with travel agency representatives and to introduce our hotel and brand to them. Although we are still building our name on the market, we are already seeing positive reactions and I am very pleased that many people prefer us to the established chains. A big thank you to the organizers for organizing this event, which, together with other activities of CzechTourism, strengthens awareness abroad not only about Prague, but all Czech and Moravian regions," says one of the participants of the joint meeting Leisure Sales Manager Almanac X Alcron Prague hotel Katarína Koropčáková.
"The presentation at the National Geographic Food Festival was a unique opportunity to meet British buyers. The atmosphere and format of the presentations were very productive and inspiring. They brought great business contacts and new opportunities for the promotion of Czech products," concludes Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing of Medical Spa Mariánské Lázně, Ensana Europe Patrícia Irlveková.
This year's National Geographic Traveller Food Festival confirmed that the Czech and Moravian regions are gaining popularity not only among the British. Next year, the prestigious event full of recipes, ingredients and stories related to gastronomy will take place on 19 – 20 July 2025.
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