Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech yesterday spoke about the importance of students acquiring the skill of preparing and serving wines and beverages in the hospitality industry.Serving wine was a catering speciality which increased in importance with the production of special wines by local wineries and with the greater range of imported wines that are the result of the full liberalisation in trade, he said.

“The tourism industry revolves around the art of providing the best services to those who travel for pleasure and who stay in hotels and other tourism related accommodation. Service in tourism includes catering, of which wine production and presentation are a major ingredient,” he pointed out.

He was speaking at a seminar on the theme “Sommelier, Profession of the Future” organised by The Sommelier Association Malta.

The Sommelier Association assists its members in enhancing their knowledge on matters relating to the service of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

The minister added that in December 2003, Richard Pons, a lecturer at the Institute for Tourism Studies, was presented with a certificate by the “Guinness World Records” for a record number of cocktails prepared in one hour. Pons was instrumental in reactivating the Guild of Sommeliers which brought about the SOMMALTA – Sommelier Association of Malta.

He said that through Pons’s hard work, Giuseppe Vaccarini – Best Sommelier of the Word 1978 – who is also an international advisor on wine and food, is hosting the seminar on the role of the Sommelier.