Valencia pushes regional gastronomy to the North American market

Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, in collaboration with Visit Valencia and the Valencia Premium Association, has organized a familiarisation trip- a ‘fam trip’ – to showcase the tourist and gastronomic offer of the Comunidad Valenciana to the North American tour operator specialized in gastronomic tourism, Tour de Forks.

The trip began on Wednesday 15th and will continue through to Monday 20th May, allowing participants to learn about the gastronomic possibilities of the Valencian region, both from the point of view of the product (rice, citrus fruits, wine, seafood) as well as that of the restaurants and the hospitality sector.

The participants will visit the city of València to discover the main tourist attractions related to gastronomy such as the Central Market or l’Albufera. It is also planned to visit the towns of Carcaixent as well as Dénia and other areas of the Marina Alta.

During their visit, Tour de Forks agents will participate in various activities and experiences organized for the Valencia Culinary Festival that have the collaboration of well-known chefs, restaurants and diverse gastronomic offerings from the Comunidad Valenciana.

The general director of Tourism, José Manuel Camarero, has joined in with the ‘fam trip’ where he has shared the possibilities of the Comunidad Valenciana as a destination for gastronomy lovers with the Tour de Forks agents.

Tour de Forks is an operator specialized in gastronomic trips for small groups of North Americans interested in this type of product or professionals from the world of gastronomy. José Manuel Camarero has pointed out the company has operated in various European countries and in some Spanish communities and that the objective of the Valencian government is for it to also do so in the Valencian region, where there is great tourism and gastronomic potential.

He emphasized the regional government’s firm commitment to build the North American market and said that this ‘fam trip’ will be followed by others during the second half of this year with other North American operators and the media which will open up the tourism potential from a destination with strong growth and good prospects for the Comunidad Valenciana.

The North American Market in the Comunidad Valenciana

During 2023, more than 144,000 Americans visited the Comunidad Valencia, making the US the twelfth biggest source of tourism to the region with a share of 1.4% of the total number of tourist visits, a large increase since 2021.

The American tourist stayed an average of almost 9 days in the region with an average spend of almost 250 euros per person. More than 99% arrived by aircraft and 12.9% visited as part of an organised tourist package.

The main reasons for visiting the Valencian region was for leisure purposes (71.6%) with business trips accounting for 10.3%. The main activities in 2024 were urban tourism (around 90%) gastronomic (75%) and culture (60%).