TESTEAT aims to enhance the role of the food and wine heritage in order to foster sustainable socio-economic and cultural development in the cross-border area. Food and wine tourism can play a key role in increasing the resilience and competitiveness of the tourism sector, reducing its social and environmental impact, and improving the quality of life of local communities. The Adriatic area is particularly rich in this respect and has enormous potential for the creation of innovative tourism offers capable of promoting experiential tourism and responding to modern needs related to food choices and tourist behavior patterns.
Thanks to TESTEAT, actions will be developed to map the gastronomic heritage and the related tourism offer, as well as training activities for chefs, waiters, managers, tour guides, etc., with the aim of increasing their knowledge of food and wine heritage, modern needs and dietary choices, and the opportunities offered by sustainable tourism, the circular economy, and digitalization.
To ensure the active involvement of stakeholders in the project activities, the 8 project partners will establish two innovative food and wine HUBs, composed of key public and private actors from the catering, tourism, and cultural sectors, who will be involved throughout the entire project implementation.
Finally, the TESTEAT partners and the HUBs will develop action plans to define strategies for enhancing food and wine heritage and the actions to be implemented in the future to ensure their continued commitment after the end of the project. This will help strengthen the project’s impact on the tourism and education sectors.
During the project, two surveys will also be carried out: one aimed at understanding the role of the food and wine offer in destination choice and behavior within the destination itself, and the other aimed at understanding the needs of tourist consumers regarding the food and wine offer and dietary habits.
9 May 2024: Flavors in evolution: gastronomy, sustainability, and innovation
3 March 2025: Adela Banderas (Deusto Business School & Basque Culinary Center), “Gastronomy and beyond: more than trends”
9 May 2025: meeting with HUB members: “Analysis of the gastronomic offer of Venice and the lagoon: results from interviews with restaurateurs”
AZRRI – Agency for Rural Development of Istria Ltd, Pazin (Lead Partner)
City of Venice – Italy
Juraj Dobrila University of Pula – Croatia
Municipality of Ston – Croatia
Scuola Centrale Formazione – Italy
CIVIFORM – Italy
Dubrovnik Development Agency DURA – Croatia
