The quality of the produce, strengthened by official guarantees of origin and quality, and a comprehensive offering which combines traditional and creative cuisine are key assets for the future of gastronomic tourism in the European Union.

This was the main conclusion to be highlighted at the 1st European Conference on Tourism and Gastronomy, which over two days in Madrid brought together 400 professionals and almost 40 speakers to discuss the present and future of the growing trend towards food and wine tourism.

The conclusions document stresses that gastronomy is gaining ground as the main reason for travel: last year, 6 million of the 52 million tourists who visited Spain said that they had done so drawn by the food and wine, while the rest said that the food was the best thing about the trip.

According to this document, European countries must 'promote their overall gastronomic offering, which basically includes the produce, traditional recipes, creative cuisine, restaurants and star chefs', with special emphasis on the 'fundamental' official guarantees of quality and origin, which little by little are spreading to all European countries.

The conference asked governments and the EU to support the promotion of gastronomic tourism and to look into creating food tourism routes which span two or more European countries, as well as to back wine tourism, tourism related to olive oil and routes involving products such as beer and whisky.

Another core theme in gastronomic tourism is 'the extraordinary importance of training with regard to diet and gastronomy' both for industry professionals and for the population. 'It is essential to incorporate this knowledge about diet and educating the palate into the education systems of all European countries'.

In this regard, Spain will lead the way in Europe by offering a bachelor's degree in culinary sciences at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian, a project in which five great Spanish chefs are involved and which represents gastronomy's debut in university teaching rooms.

The section on new trends in European gastronomy stresses greater environmental awareness, with the use of locally produced, seasonal produce and responsible fishing.