Margaret River Gourmet Escape expands as it rebrands
The food festival previously known as the Margaret River Gourmet Escape is changing its name to WA Gourmet Escape and extending both its footprint and length.
The news comes after international events company IMG has been awarded a new three-year contract to run the annual WA Gourmet Escape festival until 2021.
The WA Gourmet Escape festival will extend the three day event to 10 days, with events to be held across the Margaret River region as well as the Swan Valley region.
“The new format is a transformation of the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, which will give visitors from overseas and interstate even more reason to visit WA,” said WA Tourism Minister Paul Papalia.
The move to expand the annual foodie event has been taken with an eye to draw significantly more interstate and international visitors, which the previous three day format did not succeed in doing due to the “limited capacity with accommodation” in the region.
“The new format will enable us to draw in people to a world class event over an extended period, which will allow visitors who travel longer distances to plan their itineraries,” said Papalia. “The Swan Valley is the only wine region in Australia within a metropolitan area.”
A new addition to the extended festival will be a trade event to be called the World Gourmet Symposium, which will draw chefs, restaurateurs, food buyers and hospitality industry leaders to Perth to meet local food and wine producers and the agriculture community.
“The intent is to elevate our producers and our tourism operators on the world stage,” Papalia said.
Australian Hotels Association (WA) CEO Bradley Woods said he was excited about what the event could deliver for WA tourism, with hotels and hospitality businesses now about to participate in and capitalise on the popular event.
“The Swan Valley will be a major beneficiary of today’s announcement, which given its close proximity to Perth will not only see more visitors staying in Perth hotels, but also make it easier for locals to participate in the festival,” Woods said.
“This is a sensible decision by the WA Government and we are looking forward to see this already successful event realise its full potential. This presents a unique opportunity to leverage off the success of an existing event to support other critically important regions in WA.
“We particularly welcome the inclusion of the World Gourmet Symposium, which will draw even more industry experts, top chefs and suppliers to WA and allow us to showcase our incredible industry.
However, the State Opposition opposed the decision saying it would dilute the event and erode tourism in Margaret River.
“The minister has trashed an internationally recognised brand in favour of a cobbled together, watered-down metro-centric event that completely short sells the State’s tourism offering,” Liberal MP Libby Mettam said.
Sheridan Randall - 4th September 2018
