Structure
“The essence of Wine&Food Tourism is to get to know a region through its cuisine and wine making, admiring its landscape, its architectural jewels, its cultural heritage, its roots. Gastronomy is solid and liquid food where Tourism acquires a fundamental importance as an element of socioeconomic dynamization where both types of food traditions meet”.
Rafael Ansón, Dr. Honoris Causa
GWTO & Academy President of Honor
International Academy of Gastronomy (Paris) Founder & Honorary President
Governing Board
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
José Antonio Vidal
National (Spain) Enotourism Award
Expert in making up elite international advisory networks for the responsible development of tourist destinations.
Member of Senior Advisor Boards in the Tourism Commission of the Chamber of Commerce of Spain; in the National Table of Spanish Gastronomy (ICEX, Ministry of Commerce of Spain) and in the Global Gastronomy Organization (Athens)
HONORARY BODY
President of Honor
Rafael Ansón
President of Honor, International Academy of Gastronomy (Paris, France)
Dr Honoris Causa and Director Gastronomy Chair, Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio (Madrid, Spain))
Ambassador for Sustainable Tourism, UN Tourism
Ambassadors
GLOBAL LATIN AMERICA
Adolfo Favieres
Ambassador for Iberoamerica, WTTC
Former Secretary General’s Advisor, UN Tourism
José Carlos de Santiago
Vice President, Iberoamerican Academy of Gastronomy
Tomás Poveda
Executive Vice President EMEA, Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola USIL (Perú)
Former Gral. Mngr., Casa de América (based in Madrid)
BRASIL
Márcio Favilla
Former Vice Minister of Tourism
Former Executive Dir. for Operational Programs and Institutional Relations, UN Tourism
MÉXICO
Jorge Ferreira
Founder, Querétaro Wine Cluster
Advisor, Guanajuato Grape and Wine Association
URUGUAY
Arnaldo Nardone
Former Minister of Tourism’s Assistant
CHINA
Hong Chen
Former Director Telefónica-China Unicom Allianz
Bachelor’s Degrees in Computer Science and Trade, Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ.
Master in Industrial Engineering, Tennessee Tech Univ, (USA)
Advisory Board – RCC, Harvard Business School Executive Program
GEORGIA
Ilia Giorgadze
Ambassador (Georgian Diplomatic Body, Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
GREECE
Polykarpos Efstathiou
Former Countries’ Director, Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO)
SPAIN
Germán Porras
Former General Director of Tourism and National Tourism Office Director (Tourspain), Ministry of Tourism
Isabel Mijares, In Memoriam Feb 10, 2024
‘The Wine Woman’
Chemist and Oenologist
Winemaking advisor
Management Body
CORPORATE
CEO & Operations Director
José Antonio Vidal
International Relations & Development Director
Dina Gimbatova
Master in International Business Protocol, EIP Int’l Protocol School (Madrid, Spain)
Master in Tourism Marketing, ESERP Business School (Madrid, Spain)
MICE Director
Arnaldo Nardone
Former World President, ICCA
Economic Monitor Director
Pablo Singerman
Director Economic Observatory Enotourism and MICE, Argentina Ministry of Tourism
Research & Academic Programs Coordination Director
PhD Javier Sánchez-Verdejo
Professor Doctor, the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (Spain)
Academician, the International Academy of Social Sciences (Florida, USA)
Member of the Board, the European Foundation ‘Jean Monnet’ (Switzerland)
Legal Head
Maurizio Di Ubaldo
President, Di Ubaldo Advocats
GWTO LATIN AMERICA
Regional Director
Pablo Singerman
Director International Tourism Marketing Plan, Argentina Ministry of Tourism
Academy Regional Director
PhD Gabriel Fidel
Vice-Rector and Full Professor of Political Economy
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina)
Communications
Charlie Rangel
Public Relations
Daniel Baroni
Press & Social Media
MICE Director
Pablo Sismanian
Former Director, Tourism Product Projects and MICE, InProTur Argentina Ministry of Tourism
LATAM COUNTRY DELEGATES
Brasil
Milton Zuanazzi
Former National Secretary for Tourism Planning, Competitiveness and Sustainability, Brasil Ministry of Tourism
Chile
Teresa Alarcón
President BioBio Valley Association
Jorge Espinoza (GWTO Academy)
Former Member and Colchagua Wine Route creator, SERNATUR-National Tourism Service for O’Higgins region
Professor Tourism career, Universidad de Los Lagos
Perú
Alan Watkin
President, Wine Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ica
Manager, Tourism and Economic Development of Nasca
Uruguay
Javier Azcurra
MICE Manager, Enjoy Hotel Punta del Este
Laura Nervi (GWTO Academy)
Agronomist Eng. specialization in wine marketing and enotourism, Univ. of the Republic of Uruguay
Lecturer, Gato Dumas Institute
GWTO ASIA
ASIA COUNTRY DELEGATES
Armenia
Lilit Georgyan
Co-Founder & Director, Enotourism Council of Armenia (ECoA)
China
Jiawei Jiang
Assistant Director, Monitoring Center for UN Tourism Sustainable Tourism Observatorie in China
Ruylene Gao
GWTO Director Government Relations for China
Zheng Zifeng (GWTO Academy Ningxia)
Dulaan Wine Village President
Russia
Julia Smirnova
Press & Social Media
Turkey
Fatma Bilge
President, Urla Viticulture and Winery Association (UVWA)
Uzbekistan
Sergei Danilov
Chief Adviser, Silk Road
GWTO EUROPE
Academy Regional Director
PhD Panagiota Dionysopoulou
Former Director General of Tourism Policy, Ministry of Tourism
Professor Tourism Business Administration MSc, School of Social Science, Open University (HOU)
MICE Director
Christos Kousouris
Events organizer
EUROPE COUNTRY DELEGATES
Greece, Cyprus and Malta
Christos Kousouris
Events organizer
Italy
Nicola D’Auria
Former President, Italian Enoturism Association (MTV)
Portugal
Maria João de Almeida
President, Portuguese Enotourism Association (APENO)
Spain
Mercedes Sánchez
Secretary General, Spanish EnoTourism Association
GWTO NORTH AMERICA
COUNTRY DELEGATES
U.S.A.
PhD Kyuho Lee (GWTO Academy)
Professor of Marketing and Wine Business, Sonoma State University
México
Marisa Ramos
Professor and Researcher, Faculty of Tourism and Gastronomy, Univ. Anáhuac
Nora Bringas (GWTO Academy)
Coordinator of the Tourism Observatory of Baja California