by Martina Fuchs

MACAO, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Gastronomy tourism helps boost cultural exchanges between countries and people of different backgrounds, a publisher from Switzerland highlighted on Friday while stressing that China is home to one of the world's leading cuisines.

Food plays an integral part in cultural diplomacy and bringing people together, said Bernard Metzger, founder and chairman of the Travelindex Group, on the sidelines of the 10th Global Tourism Economy Forum held earlier this month in Macao.

"Food is very important for gastronomy tourism and cultural exchanges. When we travel, we go out and eat locally; it's part of the culture. It is crucial for the culture of a country, of a destination," he said.

Metzger, a Swiss national based in Bangkok, Thailand, has been publishing printed travel guides since the 1980s and started his first website in 1995 before developing Travelindex.

A media partner of the World Tourism Organization, Travelindex is a content-driven ecosystem for the tourism sector. In 2018, it published the "TOP25 Restaurants" guides based on an AI algorithm.

The annual list and awards are based on Travelindex owned and patented "Restaurant Rating Index" and select the nominees of some of the best restaurants.

"We started with six cities: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New Delhi, Singapore and Phuket. We are still expanding in Asia," said Metzger.

"We have a council of culinary experts, where we have people who know about food, Michelin star chefs and executive chefs from the world's biggest hotels," he said.

As a food expert, Metzger sees Chinese cuisine as one of the top cuisines in the world.

"We find Chinese restaurants all over the world. We started in Macao and Hong Kong, where there are some of the top Chinese restaurants in the world," he added. Enditem

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