The Ambassador of France to the State of Qatar, Franck Gellet (centre), with chefs during the press conference at his residence, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit / The Peninsula
Doha: Around 12 restaurants and hotels will take part in Goût de France / Good France from the March 21 to 25 attracting many people.
“Every year, on March 21, Goût de France / Good France celebrates French gastronomy and its values in more than 150 countries across the five continents,” said Ambassador of France to the State of Qatar, Franck Gellet.
Addressing a press conference yesterday at his residence, Franck Gellet said: “To make people discover French cuisine, we are organising the event in Qatar and this year it is being organised for fifth time. What makes French cuisine interesting is its diversity and quality.”
The Ambassador pointed out that the event is a part of our civilisation, culture. “We are happy to share it every year everywhere. It is also a magnificent tool for the promotion of France as a tourist destination,” he added.
A number of chefs from participating restaurants and hotels were also present at the event and spoke briefly on the preparations they were making to mark the event.
“In this 5th edition of Goût de France / Good France, over 5,000 restaurants and more than 150 French Embassies, will offer the finest meals, from highest gastronomy (haute-cuisine) to high-quality Bistro concepts (1,300 restaurants participated to the first edition in 2015),” he said.
The Ambassador said: “France welcomed nearly 90 million foreign tourists last year, and is once again the world’s leading tourist destination. Tourism is a key sector for the French economy and currently generates almost 8% of gross domestic product and 2 million direct and indirect jobs.”
“One third of all tourists say that they visit France for its culinary heritage, gastronomy is a pillar of France’s attractiveness for tourists and is an active component of its cultural outreach,” he mentioned.
Gellet added that the richness and singularity of French cuisine, the diversity of local producing regions ,as well as the inclusion of the “gastronomic meal of the French” on the Unesco list of intangible cultural heritage, are all key advantages that help keep France at the top of the list of the world’s tourist destinations. Since a spotlight is thrown on a French region each year, in 2019, the focus will be on the region of Provence.
