What is Food Tourism?

The definition of the words ‘Food Tourism’ is about looking at various local cuisines related to travel. However, it's much more than that, with food and drink tours giving the travellers wider food experiences.

What is Food Tourism?

Basically, gastronomy-wise, you can look at food in a different way whilst travelling to different places. Gaining a sense of the people, the culture and the cuisine along the way.

People’s interest in what to eat is increasing a lot, which in turn, is transforming food tourism into an innovative global trend. Providing a holiday that concentrates on giving an authentic foodie experience based around food and drink, rather than purely sightseeing.

Culinary tourism refers to "any tourism experience in which one learns about, appreciates, and samples food and drink that reflects the heritage, culture, and tradition."

Food Tourism and Social Media

Social media plays a vital role in building enthusiasm and a passion for food experiences. Therefore, food tourism is very popular among foodies who share their food experiences on social media sites. Especially when it comes to sites such as posting photos on Instagram or promoting a blog via Twitter.

Food bloggers can be found all over the world, sharing food and drink experiences their online followers. These can be anything from fine dining restaurants to market stalls, beer festivals, cooking class, workshops and food tours.

The ultimate goal of food tourism is to teach and stimulate food and wine enthusiasts throughout their experience. During which, giving the visitor a perfect way to explore the local region while learning all about the local cuisine, cooking methods and food history.

Travellers can enjoy so many different and unusual culinary tours and holidays all around the world.

Food and Drink Experiences

There is a huge range of experiences related to eating and cooking. Such as food and wine sampling, wine-making and cooking workshops. In addition, there are celebrated dates and special culinary weeks in different cities around the world. All with specific dining events, well-known chefs and food experts, as well as cooking classes and competitions.

There are lots of food-related activities that attract food tourists. Such as dining with local people for an authentic experience. One of which, is to be welcomed into the family unit for a chance to enjoy a traditional home-cooked dinner. An activity that is fast becoming more and more popular among travellers around the world.

Enjoying a street food tour with a local guide will help you to discover the true culture of the place you are visiting. Most street food tours are on foot, giving you the opportunity to explore the area along the way, passing stunning architecture and historical sites.

Holiday destinations can attract food tourism, by offering tourists the opportunity to enjoy local food in old-style settings. With authentic restaurants, food halls and street vendors using traditional cooking methods and ingredients.

Every city, town or village, will have a unique story that relates to the local beliefs, people and cuisine that can be shared with tourists. These stories are a great ethos for promoting unique travel experiences.

Celebrity Chefs

Another strategy that is always a winner, is to provide food experiences constructed by celebrity chefs. This may include culinary workshops, appearances at food festivals, or even hiring a celebrity chef for your private dinner party.

Whether your holiday is sunbathing along the coast or hiking in the hills and mountains, swimming in the lakes or a cultural experience visiting museums, you still need to eat! Great food makes your holiday so much better. Enjoying a delicious meal is so much than just satisfying hunger.

Tourists who are after weekend breaks, beach holidays and countryside hikes, are often wanting food experiences to add to their trip. Hence tour operators marketing a culinary traveller.

Of course, eating out is not the only way to experience the food on holiday. There are local, colourful food markets, wine vineyards and fruit picking. With a combination of sampling food and hearing the local stories, strengthens the culture and distinctiveness of a place. Therefore, the budding gourmet traveller can get a real insight into a place’s history, customs and culture.

Enjoying a food tour on your holiday is something you can do at any age and regardless of any culinary diet. Plus when the tour includes local history, it feels like you’ve also done something ‘cultural’. Taking a food tour is such a great way to get introduced to the city and its people.

With the increasing popularity of cooking shows, food tourism has become an exciting reason to travel. Excellent chefs are actually artists who use everyday ingredients and concoct mouth-watering dishes.

These chefs become so popular that overnight they can become nationwide household names, with famous restaurants and long waiting lists.

Food and Drink Experiences with tabl.com

So, to sum it all up - culinary tourism is about travelling somewhere different to seek out gorgeous food that reflects the local cuisine and culture.

The more you decide to travel, the wider the range of food experiences will be. Food tourism doesn't always mean luxurious dining, but more about eating daringly to search out new gastronomic experiences.

Book food experiences online and in confidence with tabl.com.