The World Food Travel Association (WFTA), the world’s leading authority on food and beverage tourism, has just announced that FoodTreX North America, its first-ever North American food travel summit, will take place November 12-13.  

FoodTreX stands for food travel excellence. It is the umbrella brand for the series of food travel trade events organized since 2017 by the WFTA. FoodTreX events showcase ideas and case studies that foster innovation and excellence in food and beverage tourism. To that end, speakers at this year’s FoodTreX North America Summit will focus on issues of relevance to North American businesses such as:

• How A Memphis Food Tour Operator Pivoted Back to Local, Cristina McCarter, Owner & Culinary Guide, City Tasting Tours (Memphis, TN, USA)
• How Will Americans Travel After COVID? Jason Holland, Travel Butler and Owner, Travel Simplicity (York, PA, USA)
• What Food & Travel Writers Are Looking for Right Now, Chantal Cooke, Owner, Panpathic Communications (London, UK) and Bri Kelly, Thompson & Co. Public Relations (Anchorage, Alaska, USA)
• Why Pinterest Is More Valuable Than Instagram to Your Food Travel Business, Veruska Anconitano, Award-Winning Freelance Journalist (Ireland)
• Giving the Nod to Local, Indigenous Cuisine, Dana Thompson, Co-owner/ Chief Operating Officer, Sioux Chef (Minneapolis, MN, USA)
• An Unusual DMO-Food Tour Partnership, Lauren Shannon, General Manager & Partner, Arigato Japan Food Tours (Tokyo, Japan)
• From Beans to Buyers: Building A Successful Food Tourism Niche, Aaron Sylvester, Founder, Tri-Island Chocolate (Grenada)
• Pivoting from Private to Corporate America: Is It for You? Aashi Vel, Co-Founder, Traveling Spoon; Lauren McCabe Herpich, Founder, Local Food Adventures (both Oakland, CA, USA); moderated by Midgi Moore, Juneau Food Tours (Juneau, AK, USA)
• Kickstarting Food Tourism in 2021: Focus on North America, Erik Wolf, Executive Director & Founder, World Food Travel Association
• Changed Not Cancelled – The Future of Food Tourism Is So Bright That It Needs Sunglasses, Steven Shomler (Founder, Culinary Treasure Network; CEO, Spark to Bonfire Consulting; President, Shomler Media Group; Author; Speaker)

Lauren Shannon, General Manager at Arigato Japan Food Tours, shared, “Arigato Japan is proud and pleased to be presenting and participating in the FoodTreX North America Summit.” “Although we are all working through this difficult time, we need to come together and support each other as we prepare for when travel resumes. One thing we recognized during COVID is how important it is to connect closely with, and learn from, colleagues across our dynamic industry. FoodTreX North America will provide regional food and beverage tourism professionals with valuable insights and practical advice from industry experts around the world, that they can begin to implement now in their North American businesses, as we all prepare for the future.”

Interested parties can learn more and register here.