The Role of Food in Tourism

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The Role of Food in Tourism Tourism in Food A
Marketing Opportunity for Food
ProducersOctober 3rd 2007

• Presented by Una Fitzgibbon, Director Marketing
  Services, Bord Bia

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Contents

• What is food tourism
• Why is food tourism important
• Drivers of authenticity, provenance and affluence
• Food tourism products
• Who benefits from food tourism
• Case studies of food tourism at various levels of
  scale
• Bord Bias role in promoting artisan food
  producers

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What is Food Tourism

• Food tourism underlines the reciprocal role of
  food in tourism and tourism in food, the two are
  connected.

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Obvious!

• 86 of tourists dine for leisure.

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Two Levels

• Tourists who consume food as part of their
  overall travel experience.
• Tourists whose activities, behaviours and
  destination selection is influenced by their
  interest in food.

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Closing the Food Tourism Loop

• When tourists return home they often aspire to
  purchasing or buying the food which they
  experienced on their holiday at home.
• This has been a strategically important element
  of developing sales for food producers
• New Zealand Wines,
• New Zealand Halal Meat,
• Greek Olives,
• French Cheesesand

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Why is Food Tourism is important?

• It leads to a fast build of sales models in food
• It allows the rural economic base to diversify
  via new agricultural and tourism products
• It is an important instrument of regional
  development
• In its specialist form can lead to levels of
  cooperation which have the potential to overcome
  the disadvantages that small enterprises face
  compared to large enterprises

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Positioning for Food Reputation

• The fact that food is expressive of a region
  means that it can be used to differentiate
  destinations in a highly competitive globalising
  market place

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We EAT What We ARE

• The fact that food is expressive of identity and
  culture means that it is an important component
  of cultural and heritage tourism

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Food Reputation

• NAPA VALLEY California
• PROVENCE France
• TUSCANY Italy
• NIAGRA Ontario
• YARRA VALLEY Australia

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Local Produce
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Higher importance attached to buying local in ROI
Very Important (5)
Fairly Important (4)
Neither/Nor (3)
Fairly Unimportant (2)
Very Unimportant (1)
Mean Score
3.4
2.9
3.1
(Base All markets All Adults 15)
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The Six Consumer Lifestyle Trends
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The real thing
I am looking for the real thing I care where it
comes from and how it is made
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People have more money to spend

• There is a shift in affluence towards greater
  wealth personal disposable income nearly
  doubled since 1960
• This shift will require more value added products
  to meet new needs
• Todays
• Consumer
• Tomorrows
• Consumer
• Tomorrows
• Food Spend
• Staple products will continue to have a role, but
  the greater opportunity will be for value-added
  products and services

10Poor
10 Affluent
80 Middle Income
30 Survival Driven
40 Surviving Well - but fluctuations
30 Affluent
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40
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Source Leo Burnett/MADE/Henley Centre
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• Australian Gourmet Traveller
• Readership Profile

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Consider the Role that Food Plays

• Food
• Is functional (sustains life)
• Plays a key role in our celebrations
• Is a conduit for socialising
• Is entertaining
• Is sensual
• Allows for experience of new cultures
• Allows for experience of new countries
• Is symbolic
• Is ritualistic
• Can take on new significance and meaning

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Food Tourism Products

• The Food Tourism product is the experience of
  food as a leisure pursuit so for example it can
  include
• dining in a restaurant,
• visiting primary and secondary producers,
• participating in food festivals,
• taking a cookery class,
• food tasting and/or experiencing the attributes
  of specialist food production
• Regions are a primary motivating factor for
  travel.

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• Food Tourism becomes more specialised as tourists
  become motivated by the desire to experience a
  particular type of food or the produce of a
  specific region or even to taste the signature
  dishes of a particular chef.

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Examples of Food Tourism Products
Restaurants Local Farmers Markets
Pubs (particularly new generation gastro style pubs) Pick Your Own Farms
Specialist Food Shops including Butchers, Bakers and Delicatessens Organic Show Farms
Accommodation - Farm Stays, Guesthouses, BBs, Hotels Heritage Breed Show Farms
Artisan Producers Cheesemaking Classes
Gathering/Fishing Charcuterie Classes
Food Trails Organic Farming Schools
Food Festivals Whiskey Trails
Cookery Schools Foraging Excursions
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Food Tourism Product Quality

• Highest of levels of food product offering
• The gastronomic/culinary tourist who is attracted
  to a destination specifically for the food
  interest must be provided with the highest level
  of specialist food experience.
• The idea of food experience has to be the best
  possible food experience and so Food Tourism must
  focus on the ideal of a good food experience in
  terms of ingredients, recipes, culinary skill,
  taste and memory.

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Food Tourism Product Differentiation - Skill

• Culinary or Cooking Skills are Important to Food
  Tourism
• In an Irish Context this essentially this means
  the ability to prepare, cook and serve simple
  regional dishes of great taste.

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Food Tourism Product Differentiation - Ingredients

• Ingredients need to reflect the authenticity of
  the region
• Irish food culture and heritage needs to be
  promoted down to a highly localised regional
  level
• Traditional ingredients should be given centre
  stage and promoted and marketed with pride.
• So the inventory of ingredients used and the
  dishes presented need to be authentic.
• Porridge with local seasonal honey
• Beef and barley soup with homemade brown soda
  bread.
• Stuffed pork with seasonal vegetables and
  colcannon
• Apple cake
• Local cheese plate.

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Food Tourism Product Differentiation - Recipes

• What are the regions dishes
• Consider contemporary interpretation and
  presentation in order to capture the interest of
  the food tourist.

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• Regional/Local and Artisan Food has a Key Role to
  Play

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• WHO BENEFITS?

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FOOD TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS
Agriculture
Transport companies, retail, services
Place town/rural area/ region
Restaurant/café owners Cookery schools Festival
owners Hotel/resort managers BB/guesthouse
operators Food producers
Other manufacturing craft, pottery, furniture
Government - local and national
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Interest for Policymakers

• To maximise return from tourism development
• To maximise return from indigenous food business
• For regional development
• For rural development

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Food Tourism Links

• The link to farming is fundamental to an agri
  food economy
• Wood (2001) Vermont, USA study of tourism which
  had a significant food tourism component
• 84 of respondents said they value the farm
  landscape of Vermont
• 59.4 said they would be less likely to visit
  Vermont if there were very few farms
• Food is an important component for
• The marketing of tourism
• The experience of place
• The likely visitor satisfaction levels

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Advantages to small producers

• Increased consumer exposure to product and to
  sample product
• Building brand awareness and loyalty through
  establishing links
• Creating relationships with customers
• Increased margins
• Additional sales outlet
• Marketing intelligence on products
• Marketing intelligence on customers
• Educational opportunity

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Wider benefits

• Association with a quality product
• Beyond the standardised product to authentic
  experience leading to a stronger relationship
  with a destination
• Motivator for visiting, staying, eating
• Acts to extend length of stay

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• Some Case Studies

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The World of Cookery Schools

• The Cookery school product provides 4 elements -
  rural, cultural, educational and special
  interest.
• It provides both experience and knowledge.
• It involves mainly short courses which are looked
  upon as a treat, being carefully planned and
  saved for.
• They link food with the countryside (food
  gathering), which in turn provides recreation and
  relaxation.
• Consumers anxious about searching out real food
  combined with a need to escape to a peaceful
  setting whilst gaining knowledge about their
  passion.
• Cookery schools can be essential in developing a
  gastronomic cultural identity.

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The Lure of Tea

• Tourism has the potential to enhance the brand
  image and marketing of tea producing
  destinations.
• With its colourful history and unique cultural
  traditions in different societies tea is a
  natural focus for travel. The histories and
  traditions of tea entice both the independent and
  the group traveller. Tea tourists attracted by
  tea travel tourists experiencing the history,
  culture and traditions related to the consumption
  of tea.
• Tea as a beverage with its varying types, grades,
  blends as well as national, regional and local
  traditions in serving has a natural role to play
  in culinary tourism. Tea can be compared to wine.
• Tea Destinations Japan, China, India, England.
• A thematic approach is very often used in
  regional tourism development a loyalty should
  exhibit a number of the following general
  characteristics related to tea tea history, tea
  ceremonies, tea cultivation and production, tea
  manufacturing.
• For Ireland, The Lure of Whiskey ?

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Food Trails in Austria

• Food trails in Austria include wine roads, cider
  trails, cheese trails and oil trails which
  highlight co-operation between agriculture and
  tourism at the local and regional level.
• To promote a wine road farmers established
  Heurigen, a typically Austrian form of direct
  marketing - a type of restaurant where farmers
  can serve drinks and foods that they produce.
• All these trails started as producer and
  marketing associations that tried to find links
  with tourism and then developed a tourist product
  around an existing agricultural product of the
  region.
• Trails can help to position and brand a region
  and to create a feeling of community among its
  inhabitants. Strategic partnerships are formed
  farmers can sell more products and gastronomy,
  accommodation benefits by increasing number s of
  tourists.
• The establishment of trails leads to very
  specialised forms of co-operation.