​Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism and Tasting Spain promote simultaneous celebration of World Tapas Day in 29 countries

The goal of this action is to create a global event capable of communicating to a wide audience the great potential of Spanish cuisine and, by extension, strengthen recognition of the Spain Brand.

Spanish gastronomy not only attracts a growing gourmet segment in terms of demand but also enriches the perception of Spain as a destination for all types of tourists. It has extraordinary potential and constitutes a priority cross-cutting product of the Annual Operations Plan implemented by Turespaña.

In fact, it is a key part of the international tourism promotion strategy due to its growing significance for tourist demand. It is estimated that over 9.5 million international tourists who travel to Spain engage in some sort of gastronomy-related activity (haute cuisine, winery tours, etc.).

Gastronomy has also become a catalyst for the Spanish economy, with a strong impact on the hospitality industry.

Similarly, it is an outstanding attribute of the Spain Brand, with great prestige and recognition at both domestic and international levels.

The agreement between Turespaña and Tasting Spain provides for the organisation of World Tapas Day on the third Thursday of June each year. The challenge is to convert this celebration into a regular event with international repercussions regarding the country brand.

Why tapas?

There are various reasons to support the choice of tapas for a World Day:

• Mainly, tapas are a hallmark of Spain:

-Because of the unique way they are made, in small and varied portions

-Because they are eaten all over the country

-Because of the way they are eaten; usually standing and in groups, sharing a single dish, aspects that convey the positive values of coexistence, fun, lifestyle.

• Tapas, cooking in miniature, are also the subject of attention from the most innovative Spanish chefs.
• "Tapas" is a word recognised by the speakers of the world's main languages.

This identifying and universal value explains the recent proposal by the Minister for Education, Culture and Sport to UNESCO for tapas to be considered as World Heritage.

International edition of World Tapas Day

Tasting Spain is organising World Tapas Day in Spain, while Turespaña is doing so in the other countries.

The network of Spanish Tourism Offices operated by Turespaña has planned 210 marketing actions in 28 markets: Germany, Azerbaijan, Chile, Czech Republic, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, United States, Colombia, Finland, France, Netherlands, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and Uzbekistan.

437 restaurants around the world will take part.

The international edition of World Tapas Day will consist of two sections:

1. Celebration of World Tapas Day via overseas restaurants selected by the Spanish Tourism Offices operated by Turespaña (Spanish acronym: OETs).

2. Special gastronomy events organised in collaboration with Spanish embassies and targeted at tourism professionals, leading journalists and opinion leaders.

The actions aimed at the general public are those with the greatest tourism marketing characteristics. These gastronomy events will help enhance the repercussion from this initiative and add to its prestige.

The public action will comprise various shared aspects:

• Name and slogan: Dia Mundial de la Tapa. Viaje al Sabor de España / World Tapas Day. Journey to the Flavours of Spain
• Logo and poster
• Microsites in collaboration with Segittur: targeted at the general public, a standard model has been created that can be adapted to each market to provide information to the general public about World Tapas Day (participating establishments, etc.).
• Competitions

A general microsite has also been created that provides information on all the actions: www.spain.info/es/diamundialdelatapa2016. A world map on this website can be used to access the various individual market microsites.

A video has been produced in 16 languages for communicating the event internationally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYyiiSTGOZM

A communication strategy has been prepared for World Tapas Day for implementation on the social media networks. Turespaña has profiles on Facebook (Spain.info), Twitter (@Spain), Instagram (@Spain) and YouTube (@Spain), with over two million followers worldwide. According to the growing trend on social media networks, most promotional activity is taking place with audio-visual content based on videos and the other material mentioned above.

Although the social media campaign was launched over a month ago, all the content published on 16 June will refer to World Tapas Day.

For organising World Tapas Day, Turespaña has been supported by 100 sponsors or partners, both overseas and in Spain. Special mention should be made of the partnership with ICEX and the Network of Spanish Economic Affairs and Trade Offices, as well as the Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Environmental Affairs.