Heraklion Chamber Taps into Culinary Heritage for Sustainable Tourism

The Heraklion Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Crete, has approved funds for the region’s participation in the Regional Culinary Heritage Europe network’s MEDFEST program which taps into local culinary tradition for the creation of sustainable tourist destinations.

The chamber will be subsidizing and participating through its technical schools in the ‘’MED Culinary Heritage Experiences: How to Create Sustainable Tourist Destinations’’ project with a total of 205,892,00 euros. The Technological Educational Institute of Crete will also be participating. 

The project, which aims to diversify traditional ‘’sun & sea’’ tourist destinations with new sustainable products based on culinary traditions of the Mediterranean, will last for three years and is primarily funded by the EU’s structural funds and InterReg.

More specifically the project will provide tools for the design and creation of new sustainable culinary experiences to be offered to visitors in order to diversify the tourism sector in terms of products and seasonality, bring tourism development to the coastal hinterland and safeguard culinary heritage for future generations.

MEDFEST projects are made possible through the active participation of producers, tourism organisations and local policymakers. Partners in the projects come from Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Portugal, Croatia and Cyprus.