There has been a sharp rise in the number of young foreign nationals obtaining working-holiday jobs in the Canadian hospitality industry under the federal government’s “international experience” visa program. The number of young workers coming to Canada on temporary visas from France, Chile, South Korea, Spain, Italy, Taiwan and several other countries has jumped more than 10-fold since the early 2000s.

Thailand has been listed among the “ones to watch” in the annual Soft Power 30 report published by Portland Communications on Tuesday. [...] The cuisine, culture and warm hospitality also played a role in attracting international attention, the report said.

Raffarin said another former French premier, Laurent Fabius, had once organized – on the same night – some 150 dinners in French embassies around the world, with more than 1,300 chefs preparing the food for the guests who included public figures and political leaders. Gastronomy, he argued, has served as a means of creating networks and building relationships in a world in which networks are vital.