Venetians hosts WGA 2007 show

THE BRIEF
To establish Wine & Gourmet Asia (WGA) as the leading regional networking platform for the fine wine, gourmet and hospitality industry. WGA 2007 was held at The Cotai Strip Convention and Exhibition Centre at The Venetian Macau. WGA is organised by Koelnmesse, organiser of the world’s largest food trade show, ANUGA, and is supported by the Macau Government Tourist Office.

CHALLENGES
The major challenge was to coordinate all the different concurrent events that took place at
the Venetian Macau, Crown Macau, Mandarin Oriental Macau and Wynn Macau. Another
challenge was to bring in some of the best chefs from around the world to congregate in
Macau at the same time.

The pre-event marketing and PR was challenging as Macau is a relatively new venue for MICE and it was the first time a gourmet festival of such a large scale was held in the South China region. Exhibition contractors, freight forwarders are also limited in Macau.
The Venetian Macau was only opened three months prior to WGA so there were some
logistical and operational concerns.

EXECUTION
WGA 2007 was held over three days and supported by five days of world-class gastronomic events, including a series of gourmet dinners, culinary and wine masterclasses, and a huge gala dinner, which was held at Wynn Macau.
Three-Michelin-Starred chef Alain Passard, renowned chefs Justin North, David Laris and Jereme Leung from presented their signature creations for the attendees.
An extensive range of support activities was arranged for delegates, including the Asian Cocktail championship, culinary and wine master-classes and a hospitality forum.

Visitors included chefs and sommeliers; fine food and wine importers, distributors and wholesalers; local and Asian gourmet marts; and wine appreciators and enthusiasts.
The Asian Cocktail Championship Flairtending Cocktail competition was a main highlight and was won by Hsu Po-Sheng from the Bartenders Association of Taiwan.

VERDICT
WGA 2007 attracted 7,300 trade visitors, with over 55 per cent travelling from outside of Macau. “I am very pleased with the trade visitor quality at Wine & Gourmet ASIA 2007, which is one of the key factors in the success of the show,” says Koelnmesse Asia Pacific vice-president
Michael Dreyer.

“We saw the top decision-makers and buyers from the regional food service and catering markets participate in many discussions with our exhibitors.”
Exhibitors were positive about the show. Mark Wood, trade commissioner for the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), Hong Kong, says: “Wine & Gourmet Asia 2007 provided an excellent platform for Australian suppliers to showcase their products to all the key buyers from Macau’s booming food service and hospitality sectors.”

Key buyers also commented on the show. “Wine & Gourmet Asia is a good opportunity for buyers to meet suppliers.
Macau has changed dramatically in the last five years and I’m sure this event is something
that the market needs,” says Fritz Sommerau, head of hospitality services, Hong Kong
Jockey Club.