Gabala Gastronomy Summit 2026 - The country’s largest gastronomy event takes place - PHOTO

The inaugural Gabala Gastronomy Summit was held at the Gabala Congress Center named after Heydar Aliyev.

The summit was organized on the initiative of Gabala Hospitality Group, one of the leading players in Azerbaijan’s tourism and hospitality industry, in partnership with the Azerbaijan Tourism Board. The event brought together representatives of government agencies, international culinary experts, local and foreign media, restaurants, local producers and tourism professionals.

The main goal of the summit is to make Gabala’s rich culinary heritage, local produce and hospitality traditions an important part of sustainable tourism development, and to promote the region as an attractive gastronomy tourism destination in all four seasons. The event featured a strategic forum and panel discussions, as well as the presentation of the “Gabala Culinary Collection”.

The summit is a continuation of a series of initiatives put forward by Gabala Hospitality Group to systematically develop the region’s gastronomy tourism potential. Ahead of the summit, throughout October, the company implemented the “Harvest Season Gabala” initiative. The initiative brought together more than 25 local restaurants, selected orchards, farmers, producers and the Gabala market. Restaurants offered “farm-to-table” seasonal menus based on produce grown in Gabala, while in the orchards guests took part in harvesting various fruits, walnuts, hazelnuts and chestnuts.

During the campaign, the organizers brought all partners together on a single platform and launched TASTE.GABALA, a platform that allows tourists to get information from a single source about the products, services and gastronomic experiences offered by all participants of Gabala’s gastronomy chain. The campaign also brought together industry players, restaurateurs, chefs and other stakeholders, laying the groundwork for new collaborations, round-table discussions and partnerships aimed at positioning Gabala as Azerbaijan’s leading gastronomy destination. One of the important steps taken in this direction was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Gabala Hospitality Group and the Gabala Archaeological Center (Chukhur Gabala), which supports closer integration of gastronomy, cultural heritage and tourism experiences.

Gastronomy tourism contributes to diversifying the non-oil economy, strengthening links between agriculture and tourism, creating new markets for local producers and increasing employment in the region. The aim is to build a model that ensures a larger share of tourism revenue stays in the local economy and that can also be applied in other regions.

Shebnem Ferman, Chair of the Supervisory Board of Gabala Hospitality Group and Strategic Lead of the Gabala Gastronomy Tourism Development Initiative, spoke about the goals and stages of the initiative in her opening remarks: “The goal of the Gabala Gastronomy Summit is to attract more tourists to Gabala and to create new tourism experiences that encourage them to stay longer and return in different seasons. We see gastronomy as one of the key directions of this development. Our approach is aligned with the priorities of the State Program for Tourism Development for 2026–2030, approved by President Ilham Aliyev, on developing tourism in the regions and creating competitive tourism products.”

The Azerbaijan Tourism Board acted as the official partner of the summit. Combining a private-sector initiative with the support of a state body is a successful example of public-private partnership. This cooperation helps develop gastronomy as a standalone tourism segment in Azerbaijan and promote regional destinations internationally.

Rashad Aliyev, Deputy CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, spoke in his opening remarks about the activities of the State Tourism Agency and the Azerbaijan Tourism Board in developing gastronomy tourism. Rashad Aliyev also highlighted the importance of Gabala hosting, in June 2027, the 10th UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism, which has been organized by UN Tourism since 2015 and brings together tourism and gastronomy professionals, researchers, producers, entrepreneurs and government representatives.

The summit’s international keynote was delivered by Lionel Strub, President for Europe of Disciples Escoffier International. His talk, “From Culinary Heritage to Gastronomic Excellence”, focused on the opportunities for presenting living culinary traditions in line with international professional standards. Lionel Strub also served as an international expert on the jury of the “Gabala Culinary Collection”.

Disciples Escoffier is named after the famous chef Auguste Escoffier, regarded as one of the founders of modern French cuisine. Founded in France in 1954, the organization is today a non-profit professional association uniting more than 30,000 members in many countries around the world. Its main goals are passing culinary knowledge and skills from generation to generation, developing professional standards and preserving gastronomic heritage. The participation of a representative of such a prestigious organization is an important opportunity to introduce Gabala cuisine to the international professional community.

In the summit’s third panel, dedicated to international audiences, Myriam Marie-France Larrière, Editor-in-Chief of the Paris-based Luxury Place magazine, explained why the international press takes an interest in regional cuisines: “Editorial is not looking for food, it is looking for a story: a face, a place, an emotion — a producer, an orchard, a recipe passed down from generation to generation.” Larrière recalled that at tastings in Paris, the French public, who believe they know all the world’s cuisines, “discovered a refined, aromatic and still little-known cuisine”.

It is worth noting that on 10–13 September 2026, Gabala Hospitality Group chefs presented Gabala cuisine at the Azerbaijan pavilion of the Village International de la Gastronomie exhibition in Paris, and the presentation was covered by Luxury Place Magazine.

Three panel discussions were held as part of the strategic forum. “Culinary Identity and Destination Development”, the first panel, discussed the traditions that define Gabala’s culinary identity, the preservation of this heritage and its transformation into a tourism experience. The panelists were Sakina Asgarova, Director of the Gastronomy and Wine Tourism Development Department of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board; Jeyran Asgarova, national culinary heritage expert; Khanlar Karimov, founder of the Gabala Khanlar restaurant chain; and Mirvari Fataliyeva, Secretary of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan in France.

“From Local Produce to the Restaurant Table”, the second panel, was dedicated to cooperation between local producers and hotels and restaurants, supply needs and the wider inclusion of local products on menus. Speakers included Namig Aghayev, Head of the Gabala State Agrarian Development Center; Ramin Gurbanov, CEO of Gabala Hospitality Group; local producer Sabuhi Nabiyev; and Elmar Aliyev, Corporate Executive Chef of Gabala Hospitality Group.

“Introducing Gabala Gastronomy to International Audiences”, the third panel, discussed ways to raise interest in Gabala through international media, digital storytelling, culinary collaborations and wine experiences. Alongside Myriam Marie-France Larrière, the panel featured Fidan Aliyeva, Manager of the international food channel SOS Media; Farhad Ashurbeyli, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Culinary Professionals Association; and Jahangir Safizade, Executive Director of the Savalan winery.

The summit concluded with the presentation and signing ceremony of the “Gabala Gastronomy Declaration”. The declaration sets out future areas of cooperation in promoting culinary heritage, working with local producers and developing Gabala as a gastronomy tourism destination. The declaration was signed by representatives of Gabala Hospitality Group, the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, the Gabala State Vocational Education Center and the Gabala State Agrarian Development Center, as well as representatives of hotels, restaurants and producers.

The second part of the summit was dedicated to the presentation of the “Gabala Culinary Collection” initiative. The aim of the collection is to identify the traditional dishes that represent Gabala, document their recipes and standardize them so that they can be served in restaurants with consistent quality.

Five teams took part in the presentation: the Gabala Hospitality Group team, the team of the Udi Ojagi restaurant from the settlement of Nij, the team of the Gabala Khanlar restaurant, the Laza village team and a local community team representing home-cooking traditions. Ten dishes were presented across five categories, each prepared in versions by three teams. The entries were evaluated anonymously by the jury.

At the next stage, the selected recipes will be adapted by partner restaurants to unified preparation, presentation and quality standards. Throughout 2027, until the next Gabala Gastronomy Summit, these dishes will be served at partner restaurants under the “Gabala Culinary Collection” name. This way, guests coming to Gabala will be able to taste the dishes in the collection based on approved recipes and the same quality standard.

The summit was sponsored by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and Azerbaijan Railways.

The Gabala Gastronomy Summit is not a one-off event but a stage in a consistent strategy. This journey, which began with “Harvest Season Gabala” and continued with the summit and the “Gabala Culinary Collection”, will enter a new phase in 2027 as Gabala hosts the UN Tourism World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism.