Alicante Gastronómica breaks all records: 78,000 visitors and 250 exhibitors

Autumn's 'Gordo' has fallen this year at Alicante Gastronómica with the number 78,000. A round figure representative of the people who attended the Alicante fair, with its 250 exhibitors, over the four days.

In fact, it has exceeded expectations and consolidated as essential for the promotion of the gastronomic tourism sector.

The director of Alicante Gastronómica, Gema Amor, has expressed her satisfaction with the response from the public and professional sectors, highlighting the strong impact it has had, especially due to the celebration of the International High Pastry Award, Paco Torreblanca, and the Spanish Tortilla Championship, "thanks to the excellent level of both the jury and the participants".

According to Amor, one of the strengths of this fair compared to other events is its ability to create links between haute cuisine and the general public because here "the general public is the protagonist as a prescriber since they are the ones who consume in a gourmet or food store, who decide which restaurant, winery, bakery or bar to go to and repeat".

For the director of the culinary event, "today there is no better showcase in front of the world for the sector but also for all those territories that want to access new markets that Alicante Gastronómica makes available to them. Without a doubt, we have become a great ally of the tourism and leisure sector of our land and other places that want to have a presence here".

Amor emphasized that the commitment developed by the Chamber of Commerce, the Alicante Provincial Council and the Valencian Government meets its objectives of "highlighting all the productive fabric of our land in all its range from horeca sector, wineries, restaurants, bakeries, regulatory councils and distributors of all kinds as well as our agricultural producers, ranchers and fishermen have a place to promote the quality and excellence of their products".

During the closing ceremony, Carlos Baño, president of the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, organizer of Alicante Gastronómica, highlighted the important collaboration and alliance established with the Alicante Provincial Council and thanked for collaboration with its president Toni Pérez. "The president of the Provincial Council understands perfectly that gastronomy is an excellent tourist attraction, one of the strengths of Costa Blanca's offer as a whole province of Alicante and it is vital to highlight it, promote it and spread it as we successfully do from Alicante Gastronómica".

In addition, Baño thanked for support from Generalitat president Carlos Mazón and announced by Innovation Ministry’s undersecretary for next edition who confirmed new commitment and greater contribution from Generalitat in Alicante Gastronómica due to its consolidation as a national reference and positive impact within sector. "It is excellent news resulting from collaboration between administrations in defense and promotion of our productive fabric linked to gastronomy", he noted.

The strength of Alicante Gastronómica is also clearly reflected in large turnout for its awards which gathered over 130 Michelin Star and Repsol Sun awarded chefs as well as more than 120 participants in competitions many of them national and international such as Paco Torreblanca High Pastry Award for Best Chocolate Cake or Spain's Best Potato Omelette Contest.