Food Tourist Market Segment and Tourist Experience Food tourism, as the name suggests, mainly revolves around the food-related activities that tourists often take part in while at the tourist attraction site (Shenoy, 2005). These activities are those involved in the various stages of food production and might vary from the activities done at food growth, food preparation, and the actual cooking of food. The activities are predetermined by the tourists’ likes and interests. This guides on which stage of production to indulge in.
Among the food tourists are the food-interested tourists who, like the wine lovers, attend food tours for specific reasons. For the food tourist, their compelling need to actualize the gastronomic experience is the main reason behind taking on new food tours. The gastronomic experience refers to the manifestation of taste of food as a way of appreciating good food. This experience brings in the need to have sensory experience in food tours and as a result it implies that the food tourists’ preferences lay in the ability and opportunity to taste the food.
Therefore, their motivation includes the need to actualize the sensory experience. Since the food tour industry is big on making the food experience very memorable (Carlsen, Charters, and Appleby, 2006), my new food tour experience will capitalize on this element as well. Most food tours occur at restaurants and big hotels but this new tour will be done outdoors. This tour will involve bringing in specialists chefs of various regions together to ensure a concrete representation of the regions of the world.
The chefs will give personalized cooking experiences to the tourist in specific tents; one for each chef. The food activities will involve mainly the food preparation processes, accompanied by chefs showcasing their talents and skills, and novel ingredients. The tourists will be given opportunity to taste what the chefs have prepared and also have acquisition or sales tents selling the recipes and food ingredients showcased by the chefs. This will give the tourists an opportunity to acquire novel ingredients and recipes that pleased them and were in accordance with their preferences.
The sales tent will oversee the promotion of the chef’s work and act as a means to get back some money used in the preparation for the event. The tasting sessions will help the tourists actualize their sought out gastronomic experiences with the feasting day making it memorable for the tourists. Festival Tourist Market Segment and Tourist Experience A festival is often a celebration of a kind and a food festival is no exception. Festivals have been held in many areas since time immemorial. They are a way of bringing people together in celebration of a culture or the key elements that define a people (Picard and Robinson, 2009).
The festivals play an important role in the economies of a country as a key tourist attraction. These festivals are often instrumental in determining the proceeds of a culture or better still a people as a whole. Festivals are meant to be happy times and as big and as memorable as possible. A food festival might be organized to celebrate local meals of a people or the diversity that is in the population of a country. These festivals attract festival tourist who are out to have fun. They are mainly interested in having fun enjoying the colorful day as they appreciate food in the process.
The food festival tourists are motivated by the fun that is in attending these food festivals. They are interested in being able to appreciate food but in a fun way. My proposed food festival will be a food-oriented costume masquerade ball. The tourists attending the festival will have to dress in costumes that are made in the impression of food items. This will bring out the joy in looking for and wearing funny looking costumes. The variety of the costumes will make the event colorful with individuals wearing various colorful costumes.
Festivals are often big hence the festival will last through the night with fireworks at the end to give a remarkable end to the day.
Read More