The tourist significance of the project and its significance for the destination were presented by Petar Škarpa, director of the Rijeka Tourist Board, while the project and the idea were presented by Karin Mimica, representative of Abisal (Gastronaut Club), reports the Rijeka Tourist Board.
The mission of “Rijeka Gastronomic Ports” project is to connect catering facilities and develop a new gastronomic brand with the ultimate goal of supporting the stakeholders in the destination and raising the overall quality and visibility.
Škarpa pointed out that “Rijeka can boast of a rich catering offer that has become especially colorful in the last few years. Citizens and visitors can enjoy different types of cuisine, local dishes, exotic restaurants, specialized restaurants, street food, or fine dining. Everyone can find a place “to their liking.”
With the accelerated development of the offer, there was a need to find new marketing solutions to present Rijeka’s gastronomy. To this end, to our great satisfaction, we joined forces with a partner, Abisal, which is behind several important gastronomic brands, and from which the idea for this project came.
Rijeka Gastronomic Ports will make it easier for citizens and guests to choose restaurants that will satisfy their tastes and different occasions, while restaurants, with the help of a designed communication model, will be able to present their offer structured according to specific target groups.”
Within the original marketing concept, meeting specific set criteria, it will profile itself following its specifics and thus emphasize its quality in various areas of gastronomy and hospitality.
The port concept as a combination of cultures, goods, stories, and experiences can be perfectly applied to gastronomy, and this project will strengthen the tourist potential of Rijeka’s gastro scene and enable a harmonious offer in domestic and foreign markets.
Guests will easily find information about Rijeka’s facilities that will meet their expectations, both in terms of food and beverages, given the society they come from and the additional facilities they provide. So whether they’re looking for the perfect place for a Sunday lunch with family, a place where they can have a business meeting while enjoying a good brunch, where they can enjoy local fish or exotic specialties – the goal is to shorten their journey from a craving to a tasty snack.
“I hope that caterers will recognize the importance of interconnection and joint promotion and that as many as possible join in this strategic project which could achieve a big step in creating a recognizable Rijeka gastronomic brand with the ultimate goal of positioning Rijeka among attractive destinations for food lovers.
The registered catering facilities that meet the prescribed conditions will proudly bear the title of the selected Rijeka gastronomic port as a guarantee of the quality of the offer and service and will become the main trump cards of Rijeka gastronomy,” added Petar Škarpa.
The author of the project, Karin Mimica, invited caterers who have not yet applied to support this initiative:
“So far, about 20 applications have been received for various gastronomic ports by seven restaurants (each restaurant can apply in up to 3 categories), and there are about ten more in the phase of thinking how to describe their offer through the port name. We are at everyone’s disposal to help them choose or design the name of the gastronomic port that best outlines what each restaurant offers.
In the first division of Rijeka’s gastronomic offer into ports, we proposed: romantic gastronomic ports; family gastronomic ports; business gastronomic ports; fishing ports; vegan ports; ports for wine connoisseurs; gastronomic beer ports, ports of local food, and ports of specialty, which include restaurants specializing in cuisines of other destinations and countries. In the meantime, we are receiving new proposals from both caterers and citizens – day ports – snack bars with daily menu change, workers’ port, tasting port, barbeque port, and tapas port. We are open to all proposals that sound good in marketing and outline a restaurant’s specific offer (image). The main goal of the project is to help citizens cope better with the diverse offer, and caterers to profile themselves through the common marketing platform of Rijeka’s gastronomic offer.”
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