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| Horeca: Beirut, Capital of Gastronomy in the Middle East 2009  The annual hospitality foodservice meeting placeHoreca launches the slogan "Beirut, Capital of Gastronomy in the Middle East for 2009". Under this title, the sixteenth edition of the forum will be held at BIEL from 27 to 30 April, with the support of the Ministry of Tourism, the Syndicate of hotels owners, and the Syndicate of Restaurant Owners. This was announced by Mrs. Joumana Salame Damous, Managing Director of Hospitality Services, organizing company, who said that the driving forces behind this initiative were the data available in the company and the general indicators on the activity of the services sector in Lebanon, "which propelled Beirut again on the international tourism scene and has helped to earn this title to which are centered all the preparations underway for this new edition".Salame expects unparalleled success for this year's edition, based on the number of reservations, the rate of participants, their excitement, the diversity of nationalities and the volume of demand in general. In this context, Horeca's Project Manager, Mrs. Randa Pharaon, confirmed that the exhibition area has already been reserved at 80%, noting that this area is 30% larger than that of 2008. She added: "The number of exhibitors will exceed 150, approximately up 20% compared to last year's". Furthermore, the number of participants will be the highest "as we are currently endeavoring to bring together 150 chefs from hotels, restaurants, pastry shops and resorts, and we are also working to host participants from Syria and Jordan". Regarding the countries, Pharaon highlighted the participation of Italy, companies from Cyprus, France, Poland, as well as Egypt who will take part in the forum officially for the first time, in addition to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, noting that the Italy will be the Guest of Honor this year. Pharaon has also projected that the number of visitors is expected to exceed 14, 000 from various countries in the region. "These preliminary data confirm that Horeca 2009 will be the richest and the most comprehensive compared to the previous years perfectly keeping up with the very latest technologies and sector evolution at different levels: food and beverage, catering equipment, bakery and pastry products and equipment, hotel and café supplies, etc." said Salame, who further noted that the development of environmental culture in the field of gastronomy and hospitality will also be a major focus of the show, mainly due to the special attention given today by specialists on this very world crucial question. It is worth noting that Horeca 2009 will be launching a new series of novel activities, such as 'Beirut Food Trend'- a free tribune for Lebanese and foreign chefs, as well as international competitions giving free rein to bakers' creativity in culinary heritage from around the world... A plethora of other international competitions, seminars, conferences and workshops are also to take place throughout the forum days. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Exhibition News :: home page |