Attend or Host Events

We would be delighted to speak with you if your region or business is interested in co-hosting an educational event. Before you contact us however, please review our brief list of requirements:

LOCATION
The host location must be near a large base of potential attendees (i.e. near a large metro area but not necessarily in a large metro area). Generally we regard a 60 minute drive from a major metro area as a good distance. The host location should have easy access (primarily highway and air but possibly also sea and rail, if appropriate) to major feeder markets.

HOTEL ROOM NIGHTS
The Association does NOT book room night contracts with lodging properties under any circumstances. If a lodging property wishes to offer a special rate, we will promote it, but we cannot serve as the hotel's outside sales agent. We prefer a model where the Association either pays for the meeting room rental or the room rental fee is waived based on food/beverage pick up.

VENUE
The Association prefers to work with small, local, independent venues for a variety of reasons. The venue(s) recommended should be of interesting character, perhaps from a historic or culinary perspective. Please keep in mind that we typically do not use convention centres in order to keep costs as low as possible for our delegates.

CO-HOST PARTNER
While our organization does all the work, we need your input and support. We require a local partner to help with two items: 1) promoting the event to your membership and/or contacts (e.g. in your newsletter) and your media list (e.g. issuing press releases); and 2) suggestions for relevant speakers and topics; suitable venues; and catering and audiovisual recommendations. Examples of suitable businesses for partnering to produce events include destination marketing organizations, restaurant management companies, hospitality management companies, or a food/beverage manufacturer or distributor. We may also ask your assistance to help introduce Association leadership to other local businesses who can help to publicize the event. The major benefits to the partnering organization include prominent visibility including in the event program, our press release and on the event page of the website; a host table with your materials at the event; the opportunity to promote your organization; and a limited number of complimentary registrations for your organization. Your organization will most likely receive media coverage as well as a result of our efforts to publicize the event. While the Association does all the work to produce the event, you reap all of the benefits.

EVENT COSTS
The local destination marketing organization is NOT required per se to provide any financial or staff support to help produce the event. However, our experience has shown that a subsidy is needed to help reduce registration costs for delegates. Here's an example. If 100 delegates attend and the co-hosting organization's subsidy is US$5000, each delegate's registration would be reduced by approximately US$50. If the co-host partner wishes, this subsidy/discount to delegates can also be restricted to members of membership organizations. If cash is not an option for the co-hosting organization, there are other ways to reduce the registration cost for delegates. For example, the co-hosting organization can provide a free or low-cost venue, arrange reduced rate catering, or secure the donation of audiovisual equipment, airfare, etc. The local host may also wish to pursue local sponsors to help subsidize the costs for delegates. In such instances, we would work with you to ensure that the sponsor will receive full recognition as an event sponsor.

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
The Association produces the event entirely on our own with our own resources. However, if the local destination marketing organization will not help with our requests for assistance (e.g. venue, speakers, catering), there is little chance the event will succeed and may be canceled. We do not produce any events without co-host partner participation.

MINIMUM & MAXIMUM NUMBERS
We require a minimum number of paid registrants for the event to take place. The minimum number depends on the costs to produce the event, and costs vary widely. In general, we have found that 65 is a realistic number to look forward to as the minimum number of registrants. Events without the minimum number of registrants will be canceled. Generally, regional symposia get on average 60-100 delegates and world summits get about 150 delegates. Certainly more can be accommodated depending on the size of the venue.

FREQUENCY
In larger countries such as the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil, the Association will produce no more than one event per geographic region of a country per year. On the other hand, Culinary Tourism World Tour stops can be scheduled more frequently within the same regions and countries.

MARKETING
The details for each symposia need to be confirmed a minimum of 9 months before the proposed date of the symposium. The reason is that we need 6-9 months to promote the symposium on our website and through other marketing channels. Prior experience has shown that shorter windows of marketing time result in substantially fewer attendees. We want the symposium to be a success. Therefore, we take the time required to plan and market the symposium in a proper fashion.

OTHER EVENTS
Why work with the ICTA to produce an educational event rather than organizing one on your own? We bring an enormous array of international resources, experience and examples to our events. These benefits add unparalleled value and exposure for your delegates. When you partner with us, not only do you have access to the world's best Culinary Tourism resources, you also benefit from the exposure that we provide, and the credibility that our relationship lends to your efforts. In most cases, the ICTA produces the entire event, thereby saving you staff time and resources, i.e. money. We are very careful to secure your detailed input but we do all the work for you. If you have ever produced an event, you know how many little details can add up to quite a large headache. Additionally, your delegates benefit from best practices Culinary Tourism examples from all over the world - not just your region. The ICTA also maintains a vast database of Culinary Tourism contacts around the world - potential delegates that we can market to . Lastly, our staff has extensive experience with cross-cultural communication and we are accustomed to working with interpreters (both simultaneous and consecutive). We know what it takes to launch an idea successfully across borders and into different cultures and languages. We always defer to you as the local expert, but because our staff are highly experienced with international matters, your job is that much easier.

GREEN MEETING COMMITMENT
The Association works hard to try and comply with international Green Meetings standards to reduce waste at our meetings. For example, we only host our events at hotels that recycle glass, plastic and paper. On site, we try to reduce our use of plastic containers, unnecessary packaging and superfluous photocopies (of course we provide photocopies for the symposia - we simply do not print too many). We ask registrants to return lanyards (nametags) to the Registration Desk so that we can reuse them. We also make every attempt to support local agricultural producers whenever possible. We believe that it is our duty to act as responsible global citizens to support local sustainability and reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible. After surveying our past registrants, we know that the majority of our attendees share our view on this subject matter and helped us to comply with this goal. Many thanks to our kind attendees and partners who share this common vision and work with us to support it.

For more information about Green Meetings, visit the Convention Industry Council website.  Additional Green Meeting resources can be found at:

Meeting Professionals International
Oceans Blue Foundation