Turismo Dénia, together with the Association of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of the Marina Alta (Aehtma), chefs Fernando González and José Bañuls, from the El Raset restaurant, and Mara Bañó, owner of the Les Freses winery, have promoted the gastronomy and essence of the destination during the celebration of World Tapas Day in Brussels in front of tour operators, journalists and other tourist prescribers of the Belgian market. On July 3, a presentation ceremony and a showcooking of tapas of all destinations Taste participants in the gastronomic space "Excelllis" of Brussels.
The World Tapas Day in Brussels was an event organized by the Product Club of Spanish Gastronomic Destinations "Taste Spain", of which Dénia is part, counting on the collaboration of Turespaña through the Spanish Office of Tourism in Brussels and Luxembourg.
Eight destinations have participated in this promotional event, which has brought the wealth of tourism and, above all, gastronomy to the tourist sector of Belgium. Along with Dénia, the destinations of Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote, Logroño, Tenerife, València and Valladolid have been present in Brussels.
The morning of the presentation and the showcooking took place a meeting of the Saborea destinations with the director of the Spanish Office of Tourism (OET) in Belgium and Luxembourg, Rafael Chamorro, who exposed the profile of the Belgian visitor in Spain, the trends of the tourist Belgian and the promotional actions that the office is carrying out.
Among the characteristics of the Belgian market was the high standard of living of the country, its good communication with Spain, which is the second country chosen to spend the holidays behind France and, within Spain, the Valencian Community is the first autonomous community chosen. Belgium has very good communications with the airports of Alicante and Valencia. The number of tourists to the Valencian Community increased last year by 16%, according to a market report from Turisme Comunitat Valenciana.
Before the promotional event, the Mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, had the opportunity to hold, together with the CEO of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, a meeting with the Ambassador of Spain in Belgium, Beatriz Larrotcha, the economic and commercial counselor of the embassy, María Palanca, the director of the Spanish Tourism Office, Rafael Chamorro, the president of Saborea Spain, Adolfo Muñoz and the vice president of the association, Ana Redondo, in which the ways of promoting the two destinations in Belgium for the near future were studied.
The subsequent event, which was attended and supported by the ambassador of Spain in Belgium, began with an act of presentation of destinations in which the Spanish culinary richness was highlighted, with special emphasis on tapas, and was presented to the chefs and the tapas that each destination had prepared for the occasion.
In the case of Dénia, the chefs of El Raset restaurant Fernando González and José Bañuls prepared an octopus salad top, pickled fennel, sweet potato and llicsó y "Ronyoses" surprise with different fillings of orange, sweet potato, pumpkin and fig. The tapas of Dénia were accompanied by the wines of the winery Les Freses, by the hand of its owner, Mara Bañó.
The participants not only tasted the tapas and wines of Dénia, but also they were able to know the characteristics and the offer of the destination thanks to the attention provided by Dénia Tourism staff and the assistant business.
