Danish and Swedish tourism experts, buyers, and key influencers recently cooked in the Czech language in Copenhagen. Under the baton of Kristína Nemčková, the chef of the local Michelin-starred Geranium restaurant. The “Tastes of Czechia” series of events was organized by the foreign representative office of the Czech Tourism Office – CzechTourism for Scandinavia and Finland. With the aim of enabling Danes and Swedes to taste the high level of Czech gastronomy and domestic wines with a long tradition.
The event took place after a four-year hiatus. Among other things, because current surveys speak of a record number of sold tours and a high willingness of Danes to spend on a foreign holiday.
“In the 3rd quarter of this year, almost 53,000 Danes stayed in domestic hotels, apartments and pensions, which means about 4% more than in the same period last year. On average, Danes spent 3.78 days with us and spent the night here in almost 147,000 cases. If we manage to meet the key challenges that await us in the tourism industry next year, the people of Denmark could come to us even more. The challenges – in addition to a reasonable mix of domestic and foreign tourists – are: solving sustainability and active tourism. Both are unique to the Danes, and we have a lot to offer in the Czech Republic,” says František Reismüller, director of the Czech Tourism Center – CzechTourism, adding: “We have the best system of tourist signage in the world, a great tradition of sports and outdoor activities, and also quality world-renowned spas registered on UNESCO list. And as we presented just in Copenhagen, we also have very high-quality restaurants and wineries all over the Czech Republic.”
The “Tastes of Czechia” event also included B2B workshops, in addition to the part where cooking was done in Czech. Seven organizations and companies from the Czech Republic took part in them, namely the Brno City Council, the Tourism Center – South Moravia, Mondial DMC, ENSANA hotels, Stage Hotel, Resort Svatá Kateřina and the National Wine Centre. Thanks to the CzechTourism agency, business contacts with Danish and Swedish entities were newly established or strengthened during them in order to support the sale of domestic products and services in these countries. There was also a tasting of regional products and a tasting of Moravian and Czech wines.
“I am very happy that the guests, judging by their feedback, took away an intense experience from the “Tastes of Czechia” event. And that they thoroughly enjoyed preparing modern Czech cuisine with such a personality as the winner of the Czech Masterchef competition, who now works in one of the best restaurants in the world, Kristína Nemčková,” says the director of the foreign representation of the Czech Tourism Office – CzechTourism for Scandinavia and Finland Lucie Vallin and adds: “I believe that we inspired Danes and Swedes to visit the Czech Republic and I am happy that we helped establish and support business partnerships.”
A later event at the Czech Embassy in Copenhagen, where the South Moravian Region was presented, had a similar goal. It was intended for wine importers, sommeliers, influencers and others. In addition to the CzechTourism agency, the National Wine Center, the city of Brno and the Tourism Center – South Moravia participated in it.
“Gastronomy in connection with wine and beer tourism will be one of the main product topics we will focus on next year. The aim of these activities is to promote the Czech Republic as a destination for great gourmet experiences and overall to strengthen the attractiveness of the perception of Czech cuisine abroad. This is also helped by greater awareness of Czech wines and beers, whose quality is world-class,” concludes Veronika Janečková, director of the product management, research and B2B cooperation department of the Czech Tourism Headquarters – CzechTourism.