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The importance of local gastronomy to tourist development at a national and regional level was successfully put forward at the conference "Local gastronomy as a driving force of tourist development" organised by SOPEXA GROUPE in the framework of HORECA 2012, on 6 february 2012, at Metropolitan Expo, Athens. More than 200 people attended the conference during which quite interesting insights were presented by prominent speakers who shared with the audience their experiences, their know-how and made some interesting conclusions on the development of Greek tourism. 

Three different but interdependent points of view synthesised the approach of the conference: the local gastronomy tradition as a driving force for regional tourist development, the cooperation among several transdisciplinary institutions, as well as the promotion and communication means of local gastronomy in the local and international market. Through tangible case studies of good practices presented by Greek and French speakers, the constructive discussion and the audience's interactive participation, major issues were brought up and paved the way for actions that can reinforce tourist development with the support of gastronomy at a national, regional and international level. Among others, the integration of gastronomy at the Greek tourism portfolio is considered of utmost importance; the need to improve the cooperation of public and private sector was underlined while the necessity of an institutional framework favoring local synergies was highlighted. Κnow-how is quite important in order to reclaim the origin of products, which provides the basis of regional marketing and usually starts with private initiatives that have positive results.

The major conclusions of the conference:

1. Greece needs to reinforce tourism through its rich gastronomy culture.

2. Private initiatives that start off as small projects but their members are strongly connected, indicate the road to success.

3. It is important to develop local synergies in the context of an institutional framework.

4. The private and public sectors need to cooperate in order to integrate gastronomy in Greek tourism portfolio.

5. Regional marketing, which is an emerging trend, can be proved quite crucial to reclaim the local origin of products at a national, regional and international level.