Vallarta-Nayarit Gastronómica. A Destination Event Among the Worldwide Top Ten

por Jessica Padilla Jessica Padilla | Jan 14, 2022 1:26:20 PM

vallarta nayarit gastronomica kickoff

We had the chance to talk to Carlos Elizondo Ramos, Vice President of COPARMEX Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas, CEO of E-Consulting Group and one of the creators of Vallarta-Nayarit Gastronómica. In the interview that he kindly shared with us, he spoke about this gastronomic event that, year after year, is gaining greater recognition and importance. This is what he told us about it:

Vallarta Nayarit Gastronómica. A project born as a help response

"In 2009, all of Mexico suffered a pandemic spread of influenza A. Puerto Vallarta-Nayarit also suffered from this situation since, although there were no cases of influenza found in this specific Mexican area, this context scared off foreign and national tourism, which represent an important part of the destination's income. Tourism ended and economic income decreased, unemployment increased. It was a complicated situation and Mexico scaled down in its "World Tourism Reception" position of the World Tourism Organization, annual report. We had been for more than 15 years among the Top Ten destinations and due to this situation, we went down to the 18th place in a year.

By means of the Business Chambers, we saw how the service, the training and the quality of the sector - a very important aspect in the hotel and restaurant business- were increasingly lowering down: the waiter had become an order taker, the service was kept at the minimum necessary, people were just looking for tips ... All this translates into falling out of competitiveness and leadership.

A world-class and high-impact Mexican gastronomic project is born

It is in this context that the project started. Aimed to help and to give an upward and positive turn to the industry, we planned to hold an International Seminar, along with Consuelo Brito. By doing so, we would collaborate in a proactive manner with the professional development of our industry's colleagues, at a high level. This is how the "International Gastronomic Seminar" was born in 2009. That was its first name. It essentially focused on a educational format. There were 6 people who made the panel of speakers up, everything was theoretical, nothing was cooked. It was mostly aimed at services and lasted 2 days. The first seminar counted with the presence of 70 people, per day.

We named it international because we decided to invite international recognized personalities such as Fernando Abreo, who was back then the Director of the Caribbean Tours Office -CTO-, at where the 34 Caribbean Islands "get together" (this islands represent the first worldwide tourism destinations). Fernando Abreo was also the Marketing Director of the entire association. We also invited Patricia Quintana, great Mexican chef, who had just been named Ambassador of Gastronomy in Mexico and Guillermo Fraga, Director of Human Resources of the Coca Cola group at the time, just to mention a few.

Four years later, we transformed this event into "Vallarta Nayarit Gastronómica" (VNG) and it became a more complete concept, since it included both theory and practice events. We wanted to be able to offer a concept that would give an answer to the real needs of the professionals in the field. By 2017, we already had an exponential growth in the attendance to the event, since 9,200 attendees participated in it.

For this 2018 edition, we will gather 3 Mexican chefs, all of which have Michelin Stars and Repsol Suns. They will cook and share their experiences with us. This chefs are:

  1. Carlos Gaytán, from Chicago's "Mexique" Restaurant
  2. Roberto Ruiz, from Madrid's "Punto MX" Restaurant
  3. Paco Méndez, from Barcelona's "Hoja Santa" Restaurant

Casa Sauza at VNG: a win-win Sponsorship

casa sauza tequila pioneers

As a result of this growth, we started approaching some brands so we could offer our attendees direct contact with great products and services. Casa Sauza has participated in the last 3 editions in which it has presented new products, such as the Hornitos Black Barrel tequila, during spectacular tasting activities, for example.

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We are proud of Sauza's participation in this event, since it is one of the main tequila producers in Mexico and has a tradition of being one of the oldest tequila-producers of the country, which makes it a renowned and expert brand.

 

Growth and consolidation in 2018, VNG's tenth edition

For this year's the tenth edition of VNG, we will grow at a rate of 12% to 15% more visitors. In 2017, 18 States from the Mexican Republic joined us and we had speakers from 7 different countries participating in it. All of which translated into 504,000 hotel room/nights reservations and into more than 30 million pesos, a huge economic benefit for the destination, Vallarta-Nayarit.

Quality control has been key to VNG's growth. We organize the event with the best worldwide products and services available and bring them close to our attendees. This is how we ensure our sponsors with a higher-level and specialized participation of our attendees, which also helps us to make of this, a world-wide and high-class event .

To think year after year about how to solve the needs of our assistants in a better and more perfect way, has brought us unexpected results: We have received a series of acknowledgments. Among of which is the one that we received in 2017 on the World Tourism Day, by hands of the Municipal Government of Vallarta, for having positioned ourselves as a major and very relevant event in Mexico and abroad.

vallarta nayarit gastronomica casa sauza

You are invited to come to the 10th edition of VNG from October 14 to 18, 2018. You will be able to have a taste of what the great chefs that participate with us cook during congresses, premium tastings and gourmet workshops. We will have a Pairing Dinner with a limited quota. In addition to learning and being trained at the highest level, you will be given a certificate with curricular value given by the most prestigious universities of the Western Region of Mexico."

We thank Mr. Carlos Elizondo for the time he gave us for this interview. If you want more information, you can contact Casa Sauza directly, we will gladly answer all your questions.

Click here for more information about Casa Sauza Business Events

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