Tourism - Food and Drink Festivals and Events - Essay Example

? Critical Review for a Book Chapter Introduction This specific chapter expertly portrayed that special events and devices can attract the visitors around the globe to a particular tourist spot. This chapter also has described that the students who are specializing in hospitality management field can acquire effective knowledge about food or drinks and its preparation and care. However, several food and drink tourism activities can motivate and attract the global visitors along with the students to experience the events. From the perspective of students, these activities can help them to acquire effective knowledge and skills. Tourists love to visit several popular cities around the globe in order to taste the authenticity of local food and experience several attractive events and festivals. Tourism department of several countries is motivating the hospitality organizations to focus on these things in order to attain both social and economic growth. In addition to this, this food and drink tourism festival can help the hospitality management students to learn about several key aspects associated with food and drink tourism. Discussion Food and drink festivals and events effectively provide extra attraction to the tourism concept. People, who love to visit popular tourist spots and cities, always try to experience the special local festivals and events of those areas. It is important for the tourism management organizations to take care all of these aspects along with basic aspects. The basic aspect is to take care the of the comfort and satisfaction level of the visitors. Global tourism sector is achieving significant growth rate. Various hospitality sectors are significantly contributing to the growth of this department. It is known to all that several developed and developing countries are trying to improve this specific area as tourism department is considered as one of the major economic growth driver of a country. Several local restaurants and other hospitality management organizations understood the significance of their growth and sustainable business practices (Boniface, 2003). In addition to this, governments of several countries are trying to incorporate all the related industries to this sector in order to meet the market demand and growth objectives. Food and drink festivals have several benefits. First of all, it helps an organization to meet the satisfaction level of the customers or visitors. On the other hand, these specific festivals and events can help individuals to learn about the culture, food habits and preparation of local food items. Experience of several events with food and drink tourism can provide effective education and information to the individuals who are trying to get employment opportunities in this specific sector. People can learn lots of things through these events and activities. It is true that several organizations or corporations educational types of events. Major objective behind the arrangements of these kind of is to educate the students or their employees. Practical knowledge about these events can help the individuals to increase their level of skill and competencies. Therefore, it can be stated that special and diversified events associated with food and drink tourism can help individuals to attain appropriate knowledge. Attractiveness of an events or a particular festival varies from a visitor to another visitor. Several visitors like to see and experience traditional and authenticated events. The authenticity of festivals and events attract these types of customers. On the other hand, some of the visitors like to see and experience newly organized events apart from older and traditional events. It is the perception of the visitors that determines the attractiveness of the events. It is true that modernity represents the dissolution of genuine inter-subjectivity. The demand for modern activities and events is increasing significantly among the global visitors. Food brings authenticity in the tourism concept. The taste and preparation of food and drink items cannot change for a great extent, but way of presentation used to change due to change in market demand and needs of customers. In addition to this, quality of preparation and serving of food determine the success story of these events. It has become important for the tourist department of several countries to add some value to the tourism activities to maintain the growth rate of this industry. The role of food and drink events in the growth of tourism industry cannot be avoidable as different unique flavors and experiences attract visitors around the globe to visit these places. On the other hand, various types of cookery and training events motivate the individuals who wish to become part of this industry. Therefore, it is important to implement differentiates strategies to ensure growth of this industry. The festivals are important events for attracting tourists to several destinations. The festivals include plenty of events like involving food, drinks, various form of art and culture of the place that draw the tourists in search of recreation and entertainment. The examples of the famous festivals include the York festival for Food and Drink, the Ludlow event for food and drink, etc. These are held over a period of three to ten days where the tourists remain engrossed in various activities of exhibition and display, competition, etc. Apart from the exhibition of various form of art and culture, the competition on food and drinks like the pork-pie competitions attract lot of participants. The huge influx of tourists due to festivals being held as a centre of attraction results in enrichment of the local economy. The shows are another form of exhibition of the local art and culture, food and drinks to the tourists that range over a limited period of time as compared to the festivals. The BBC Good Food shows is an example of the special shows that are organized and as a result of which a high scale interaction of the visitors take place with the local people and their style of livelihood. The shows host a brief episode of the local exhibitions of various forms of dresses, jewelries, food and drinks, etc. This brings the tourists into the venue and, therefore, fosters the activities of tourism. The feasts are special types of events that are organized to display the local events and present the features of the local produce like the variety of crops, cereals and pulses. Along with this the local food habit are also presented with the various dishes of meat, sea fishes, egg. The food and drink category is enriched with the inclusion of various categories of wine. A gourmet pavilion is also established for the tourists that give them the chance to taste various kinds of food and drink and come to know about the local culture, food habits and their style of livelihood. These events provide ample scope to the tourists to enrich their kitty of knowledge and fulfill their desire of knowing the world. The fair are special events that are held for providing an opportunity to the people of different ideologies and beliefs to gather together and promote the merchandizing and trade of local goods and services. The Bartholomew fair is an example of an old event that has been revived to improve the scope of tourism. The exhibition of the goods and services and the demand for such products in the market leads to exchange of these products in lieu of money, thereby raising economic activities through tourism. The fairs also include various ceremonies that serve to fulfill the religious beliefs of the people. These sources of attraction in the fairs have led to the increase in the tourism over the years. The educational events attract lot of young learners and students along with their parents to the destinations and, therefore, enhance the scope of tourism. The educational events include variety of programs that provide useful lessons, practical shows on academic curriculum, videos and presentation on areas of academic interest. These are significantly important for the learners and are viewed as potential opportunities by the young population that could not be missed. The various promotional events like the display of food recipes, cycle rides, folk dance are arranged in order to display the local forms of dress, food, culture and commodities to the tourists, the tourists get to the learn about the new forms of life, commodities, food habits that adds value to their purpose of visit. These promotional events lead to increase in economic transactions as the tourists are convinced by their utilities. These special events not only increase the activities of tourism but also contribute to the growth of the local economy. Reactions and opinions My reactions and opinions after reading the contents of the chapter have been explained as follows. I believe that visitors around the globe could be attracted to tourist destinations with the help of special events and devices. The special events and devises can take the form of demonstrations, fairs, festivals, conferences, promotional events, etc. My reaction towards these events is that these involve variety of exhibitions and displays, competition involving food and drinks, local art and culture. I am of the opinion that these provide an opportunity to the visitors to know about the local art, culture and food habits. I firmly believe that these events foster the growth of tourism. The visitors which include the students and the adults could use these events as learning resources and also as means of recreation. Conclusion The special types of events are very significant in fostering the growth of tourism as they have been able to attract large number of tourists over in various destinations over the years. There are various types of events that contribute to the promotion of tourism as its draws the visitors to the place in search of recreation, refreshment and the wide scope of learning in life that are offered by these special events. The various types of events that take place in the field of tourism are namely, the festivals, shows, conferences, tours and trails, demonstrations, fairs, educational events, promotional events, etc. These events are centers of attraction for the tourists which contribute to the growth of the local economy by catalyzing the exchanges of goods, services and money in the local economy. References Boniface, P. (2003). Tasting Tourism: Travelling for Food and Drink. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Read More