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The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly with Expocentre AO and the Russian State University of Tourism and Hospitality held a traditional roundtable Russian Hospitality as part of the event programme of the 27^th edition of the International Exhibition for Food, Beverages and Food Raw Materials Prodexpo 2020 at Expocentre Fairgrounds today. The roundtable’s theme was Tourism based on Gastronomic Brands and Geographic Specialties.

The roundtable moderator, Rector of the Russian State University of Tourism and Service, Alexander Fedulin, indicated the practical significance of the event, which had been arranged in the course of the Prodexpo exhibition for the past three years. He invited participants in the discussion to highlight the link between food tourism and local food manufacturers and gave the example of Europe where food tourism is a major trend supporting the development of local companies.  

Expocentre Deputy General Director Vladimir Gubernatorov said in his greetings to the roundtable participants that Prodexpo had grown a lot, including with regional manufacturers of gastronomical products. There were 14 regional group stands at Prodexpo 2018, and 21 in 2019. This year group stands and pavilions represent companies from 47 constituent territories of Russia. This participation format allows big companies, as well as small and medium businesses to participate in the leading food show, Prodexpo. 

According to Mr. Gubernatorov, the topic is highly relevant for the development of the exhibition, as it enables the formation of regional showcases on the basis of regional gastronomic values and increasing the interest of food tourists in those regions.

Director of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Department for the Exhibition, Fair, and Convention Activity Sergey Selivanov stated that impressions from gastronomy, cuisine and culinary traditions had become an important element of inbound and domestic tourism in our country, and declared the importance of the development of regional food brands.

Experts who took the floor in the course of the discussion spoke about gastro-brands and specialties of the Tula, Oryol, Vladimir, and Rostov oblasts and the Krasnodar krai.

The award ceremony of the Taste Experience 2019 professional tourism industry competition took place within the roundtable.  

Learn more at http://www.prod-expo.ru/

Press Service, Expocentre AO