The Basque Country’s institutional trip to Japan completes its first two days with meetings with leading tour operators and the opening of the 7th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomic Tourism

The institutional trip to Japan by the delegation of the Department of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, represented by the Minister Javier Hurtado and the director of the Basque Tourism Agency, Basquetour, Daniel Solana, is being carried out with meetings with the main Japanese tour operators and a coordination meeting with the STO in Tokyo. The STO (Spanish Tourist Office) offers support for the marketing of Basque Country tourism products and has recently organised, together with Basquetour, the visit to our country of a group of Japanese tourism consultants and travel agents. The meeting resulted in a commitment to strengthen the promotion of the Basque Country in Japan.

During these two days, a working meeting was held at the headquarters of Jata (Japanese Association of Travel Agencies) in Osaka, which allowed the Basque Country Destination to be explained to the heads of tourism in the 7 prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Wakayama, Mie, Hyogo and Shiga. The meeting was also attended by the companies holding the international travel commission of JATA Kasai and the Secretariat of JATA Kansai.

The Minister Javier Hurtado also took part in the opening of the 7^th UNWTO World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, which will be held in Nara until 15 December 2022. This Forum, which the Basque Country hosts every other year, is the world’s leading promotional event in this field and its holding in a preferential market such as Japan has become an exceptional showcase for the local market to showcase all the attractions of the Basque Country’s food and wine.