We did it!! Well … almost, so let’s keep pushing!
So last week, Mr Montano confirmed to me that Madrid Fusion Manila would no longer push through.
So of course I shared the bad news with the world.
I never expected that foodies would make such resounding noise – as if food was taken away from our table! LOL
STILL UNLIKELY
As of 8:00 pm last night, Tourism and Promotions officer Maricon Ebron said that Madrid Fusion Manila 2018 is “unlikely”.
She stated the following reasons: no venue, no date, no proper bidding for an event organizer.
She did however say that it was possible for Madrid Fusion Manila to push through but in 2019.
lThe Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) is awaiting the Spanish organizer of Madrid Fusion Manila (MFM) to propose a new date for the international gastronomy congress, after the original date was called off to give way for a public bidding, an official said Tuesday.
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Maricon Ebron, officer-in-charge of the TPB Marketing and Promotions Sector, confirmed to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the event is unlikely to push through this year.
She said Foro de Debate, who owns the Madrid Fusion trademark, has yet to propose a new date for the event, making it unworkable to start the bidding process immediately.
“Most probably, the event would be next year because Foro de Debate has to give us a date. At the same time, we need to check our venue,” she noted. “‘Pag wala silang maibigay sa amin, talagang maka-cancel nga ‘yon (If they could not give us a date, MFM 2018 would indeed be cancelled). It may be next year.”
Full story of PNA here: http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1030700
Today, though, while still not confirming that the food congress will push through, Cesar Montano, TPB head, appeased angry foodies by giving an official announcement that the TPB is now ASSESSING the possibility.
But most importantly, he now RECOGNIZES the impact of the Congress. Whee! 🙂
I called him to ask if he has in fact changed his mind and Madrid Fusion 2018 is now confirmed to push through. He still refuses to confirm that the event is IN FACT pushing through but said that they are now looking at Marriot Manila as a venue, after he got word that it is available, and, like he said in his statement, ASSESSING the possibility.
The grapevine says they are looking at September. But that is not official. (Earlier the grapevine said June.)
Whatever the REAL reasons or the real plans, at least the foodie world can now rejoice at the ray of HOPE that MAYBE Madrid Fusion Manila 2018 MIGHT (still “under assessment”!) push through this year.
More on Sunday in Inquirer Sunday Biz 🙂
Margaux Salcedo 