Exhibition platforms erected by top chefs from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, including; South East, West, South-South, North Central, West and East regions, and also those by foreign participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire became empty within minutes of the opening of the food and beverages section as international and local attendees aggressively sampled the sumptuous and tasty delicacies on display, as this year’s edition of the popular Gastronomy Festival, closed, recently at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival is conceptualised and programmed to up skill Nigerian gastronomes and culinary artists on the technicalities, and emerging global best practices, of processing, preparing, presenting, packaging and promotion of foods, especially Nigerian traditional cuisines.
For the hundreds of visitors inside the ICC Abuja, it was a tour of duty swarming from one exhibition stand to the other exploring culinary delights on showcase at the estival with the theme “Culinary Arts: The Gateway to Growing Tourism Destinations”.
The Guinness World Records (GWR) holder for longest marathon cooking, Hilda Bassey added colour and glitz to the festival’s gala and awards night. According to President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) Nkereuwem Onung, in his goodwill message, gastronomy has broken the barriers which politics and business had failed to do in the past, as according to him, the way chefs have united Nigerians and their brothers from the West African sub-regions, even aviation business and politics have lagged in that direction.
The Embassy of Spain to Nigeria brought in Chef Alex Marugan, a celebrated Spanish chef to train and share best practices and emerging global trends of culinary arts with some select culinary schools in Nigeria.
Alongside other awards and prizes, the annual Best Campus and Outstanding Staff Members award system was introduced by the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani Kangiwa in 2021. Lagos Campus emerged the Over-all Best NIHOTOUR Campus of the Year 2023.
