World-leading Hungarian project, Green Destinations and GSTC hold talks at ITB Berlin
Important discussions and a world-first Hungarian sustainable tourism project – this is how we can sum up our participation at ITB Berlin.
Green Destinations and GSTC consultations
The exhibition provided an opportunity to have bilateral discussions on the role of Innotime Hungary and the introduction of I-DEST with the European Director of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), With Michelle Janke, and Adriana Pizzi, the Global Head of GSTC Member Coordination. During the meeting, we primarily discussed how I-DEST can make sustainable tourism steps understandable to the general public on a global level, but we also discussed GSTC's visit to Budapest a few weeks ago and how our company can help global processes in the Hungarian areas of the Carpathian Basin.
There was also an important discussion on We also spoke with Kirsi Hyvaerinen, head of the Northern, Central and Eastern Europe department of the Green Destination Good Travel Institute, with whom we discussed, among other things, how we can jointly strengthen the sustainable tourism preparedness of Hungarian destinations in the Carpathian Basin, both in Hungary and abroad.
Miskolc's Edible Forest project became a world leader
At the suggestion and with the professional support of Innotime Hungary, the submission of the Miskolc Edible Forest project to the Green Destinations TOP100 Story Awards world competition was completed. We have been excited together in recent months, as it first made it into the world's top 100 projects, then into the top 6 - however, at ITB it turned out that it achieved the very first place in the Thriving Communities category. After the success of the Bodrogkeresztúr stork rescue program last year, Hungary can now boast two international awards.
This year's success story began with the professional collaboration of the Bükki Kör, a group of chefs, winemakers, accommodation providers, foresters and creative professionals, conceived by forester Gyula Bózsó, and the gastronomic innovation of the program package was developed by Végállomás bistro&wine and Hotel Palota Lillafüred, which is Hungary's first Good Travel Seal sustainability-certified hotel. The program connects the forests of the Bükk, nature knowledge and local gastronomy. In the Forest Gastro Express program, participants take a small train out to the Bükk, where they tour the forest with a professional guide, learn about edible plants and the functioning of the forest ecosystem, and at the end of the tour they can taste dishes made from Bükk ingredients. In recent years, several other program elements have also appeared with the joining of local tourism businesses: Végállomás bistro&wine and Hotel Palota Lillafüred offer independent Edible Forest dinners, where in addition to forest ingredients, Bükk wines or cheeses from the Szimbíózis Foundation social farm, which also uses Bükk ingredients, are featured, the Szeleta Park Visitor Center offers a small train gastro tour, we can taste “edible forest” cocktails in the lobby of Hotel Palota Lillafüred, some of the accommodations already include the program in their package offers, and even the popular local cooking school has included the edible forest concept in its offer. In order to make the program available to a wider range of guests as a tourist product, the VisitMiskolc team, MIDMAR Nonprofit Kft. with website, and will combine the program with tourism products developed jointly with local entrepreneurs.
