Food and drink tourism is a big part of people’s travel decisions and activities when they travel. The interest in this sector ranges from high-end Michelin-starred restaurants to food trucks and family owned wineries. There are so many ideas, experts in the area, and great examples that I have decided to spend the month of March exploring different elements of these tourism businesses and destinations that do it right. Pour a drink and get a plate with some local snacks and let’s dive in!
Why food tourism?
I will first start with a video from my friend Erik Wolf. Erik has been at the forefront of food tourism. He states in this video that it was a conscious decision to change the term ‘culinary tourism’ to ‘food tourism’ because people do not travel just to go to fine dining locations. The popularity of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives proves that!
If Skift says dining is a trend, it must be true!
Skift is the leading research organization in the tourism industry these days. They publish a daily newsletter, have a weekly podcast, produce industry reports and release a yearly megatrends paper. ‘Dining Out is the main event‘ is one of the top trends. Because every destination has a local food culture, this is a great way to promote your destination. No longer do you have to have a famous chef open a restaurant in order to market to visitors.
Another Skift report on the Rise in Culinary Tourism says:
An effective food tourism development strategy covers a broad selection of travel activities including: food, wine and beer festivals; tours of farms and artisanal production facilities; immersive food tours of varying depth; myriad types of cooking classes and wine tastings; accommodations with F&B offerings; farm-to-table restaurant dining and educational events; and the always popular farmers’ markets. Agritourism, where travelers visit working farms, is also a growing opportunity.
It’s All about the photos
Food, drink and picture sharing are intertwined thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and photo sharing sites like Facebook and Instagram. I read a study ( yes, an academic study called A Flash of Culinary Tourism: Understanding the Influences of online food photography on people’s travel planning process on Flickr) that studies the relationship between food photos and why people post them. And more importantly, do food photos have any impact on people’s travel decisions? One table shows the answer to that. So as we go through the next few weeks of thinking about how food and beverages can help your business be more successful, remember that picture taking is an important element. Your guests can act as your food ambassadors and put images out into the world that can help bring more visitors through your doors!