Hawke's Bay's Food and Wine Classic attracts international attention

Media representatives from international destinations will visit Hawke's Bay to experience the 10 day festival in November. Photo / Supplied

Summer Food and Wine Classic (F.A.W.C!) draws thousands of wine and food lovers every year, but now the prestigious event has gained international attention from around the world.

Media hailing from China, the United Kingdom and Australia with high profile titles such as The Guardian UK, The Evening Standard and Good Food Australia, will all be attending events at The Urban Winery, FunBuns, Black Barn Vineyards and a secret location lunch.

The group will also attend tourism activities in the region, including Napier Maori Tours, Art Deco, Hawke's Bay Farmers' Market and Juliet Harbutt's 'Hunter Gatherer Tours'.

The media group have a combined audience of 28 million people through global print and digital platforms and will broadcast their experiences to millions of potential visitors worldwide.

Opinion leader and highly regarded author, Anthony Ma will be making the journey from China along with his crew.

Ma has an established audience of more than 3.16 million across China's most popular apps, such as Weibo and WeChat.

The well known writer will also be including Hawke's Bay in his next book, due to be released next year.

Hawke's Bay Tourism General Manager Annie Dundas says hosting media is an incredibly cost effective way to promote Hawke's Bay to a huge audience.

"Hosting this media will deliver huge coverage for us, with only a small investment from Hawke's Bay Tourism to cover logistical costs.

"We have to give a huge thanks to Tourism New Zealand, Air New Zealand and the very generous local operators for their contributions so this can happen."

National media will also be covering F.A.W.C! with writers from Otago Daily Times, Dish Magazine, New Zealand Women's Weekly and New Zealand Wine Growers.

Plenty of events will be held throughout the summer festival with some costing less than $100.

So far, ticket sales have soared, with Food and Wine Classic tickets flying out the door on the first morning of sales earlier this year.

Passionate wine and food enthusiasts snapped up 610 tickets within the first 30 minutes.

The first event to sell out was the Friday session of 'Chefs in Homes' with renowned executive chef Ashley Jones from Elephant Hill and drinks specialist, Andreas Weiss.

People from far as the United States rushed to the F.A.W.C! website to secure tickets.

Summer F.A.W.C! runs from November 2-11, and features more than 60 unique food and wine experiences in an array of Hawke's Bay landscapes and locations.