The Relationship between Gastronomy and Tourism - Report Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Title Page……………………………………………………………………………....................i Table of content…………………………………………………………………….....................ii i. Introduction……………………………………………………………………….........1 ii. Tourism and Motivation……………………………………………….……………..1-2 iii. Food and Tourism……………………………………….………………..………..…..2 iv. Gastronomy and Tourism…………..………………………………………………….2-3 v. Gastronomic tourism……………………………………………………………..……3-4 vi. How gastronomy can be understood as a tourist product……………………...………4-5 vii. A visit to a cooking school and a fine wine retail cellar ………………………….……...5 viii. Cooking school…………………….……………………………………………………5-6 ix. Fine wine retail cellar……………………………….……………………………..……6-7 x. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………….…..…7-8 References..……………………………………………………………………..…………..……iv Executive Summary The main aim of this particular report is to analyze the relationship between gastronomy and tourism with the objective of understanding cuisine’s significance in tourist motivation and destination choice. In a bid to clarify issues regarding the relationship between gastronomy and tourism, the report begins with an introduction then discusses gastronomy, its relation with tourism, gastronomic tourism and finally uses two site visits, wine retail cellar and cooking school, to further cement the understandings therein. The report finally concludes with a summary of the main points. Introduction In the past four decades or so, individuals only associated tourism with pleasure travels while others considered tourism as merely provision of services that are relate to issues regarding leisure or recreation. However, such perceptions mostly remained acceptable until late 70’s, whereby in mid 80’s people began looking at the tourism industry in a broader manner, a factor that later led to the emergence of gastronomy as part of tourism. The term gastronomy, however, may sound peculiar even amongst the seasoned ‘culinarians’. For Kivela & crotts (2006), gastronomy is basically considered exclusively as an art involving cooking (food preparation) and good/enjoyable eating. For some authors however, gastronomy is actually studying of the existing relationship between the culture of a community and their food. Gastronomy can therefore be generally considered as the understanding of the various social, historical components, cultures, philosophy, religion, literature, economic status among others where food is basically the main subject. In this sense therefore, gastronomic tourism (also culinary tourism, food tourism, or even tasting tourism) can be considered as trips to various destinations, with the motivation for travelling being the local food as well as the beverages within the destinations. This particular report aims at exploring how gastronomy can actually be understood as a tourism product using two site visits. Tourism and motivation. According to Goeldner & Ritchies (2006), Tourism can generally be described as activities pertaining to either travelling to, or visiting of new destinations that are away from the usual residential place for pleasure and holidays, not due to work . Such a travel is often based on physical, cultural, interpersonal, and status/prestige motivations. The main final aim of touring a destination is often to sample tourist products within the destination of visit, including attractions, entertainment and catering (food). Since food is undeniably valuable to the holiday makers, there has been an upsurge of tourism based on food as the main motive for travels. Food and Tourism Food has often been a major component in tourism experience whereby it actually constitutes a significant portion of the tourist expenditure/budget. According to Henderson (2009), Food is undeniably valuable to the holiday makers. Gastronomy, a fundamental part of the culinary tourism, is as such a rapidly growing sector in the larger tourism market that has generally gained enormous potentials of recent, especially with the view that, for a number of tourists, the sampling of food and drinks is the main reason behind the Visit of new destinations. A higher percentage of visitors to a destination consider the aspects of dining and the food to be relevant activities within travels (Henderson, 2009). Gastronomy and tourism Gastronomy entails the study of food of particular communities and their cultures, though it primarily focuses on the gourmet cuisine. The main principle of gastronomy holds that food, apart from being a form of art, is actually a science. The relating of food with society, arts and science is an idea that has been there for long. True gastronomy can therefore be regarded as a highly-demanding multidisciplinary art/discipline that examines food itself in addition to its freshness, context, history and presentation. While often associated not only with gourmets but also gluttony, gastronomy is basically a distinct discipline (Allen & Albala, 2007). There are, however, some gourmets who are indeed gastronomes. A gastronome evaluates the food’s freshness, the way the food is prepared, the flavours used, food presentation, and the food’s hidden message. Since gastronomy holds that food is basically a science and an art, food is definitely at its foundation. By understanding the manner in which all senses contribute to the experience, gastronomes clearly understand the reason behind the clients’ claims of disliking or enjoying particular foods. In addition to this, gastronomy examines the sociological implications food has, alongside integrating disciplines as psychology, philosophy and anthropology. The role that food plays in fine arts, including painting, performance art, and sculpture also undergoes examination to consider the overall significance of food within societies. According to Kivela & Crotts (2009), Studies and Various destination-marketing campaigns globally have indicated that there are strong links between tourism and the gastronomy of a destination. Gastronomy is as such a great determinant of the overall visitor satisfaction and retention in the destination as it impacts heavily on tourists’ experiences in a destination and indicates whether they will be returning specifically to the destination’s unique gastronomy. It thus plays a significant role in tourism marketing. Due to this, more tourist destinations’ marketing strategies and campaigns currently focus on the element of food as central in the destination’s products (UNWTO, 2012). Tour operators and tourism organizations, both nationally, regionally as well as within states, have benefitted immensely from targeted food-tourism campaigns. Gastronomic tourism Gastronomic tourism involves travelling to destinations with the primary purpose of sampling local food/cuisine and beverages. This implies that there are particular tourists willing to visit various destinations and travel throughout the world both to sample as well as experience the authentic and widely varied international cuisine. As highlighted by Su & Horng (2012) Gastronomic tourism has often been considered as a sub-culture of the cultural tourism, where food is often one of the major components. There are a range of tourism products that Gastronomic tourism offers to the tourism market. Generally, the most preferred gastronomic tourism product is often the food events. This is mostly followed by gastronomic routes, workshops, and the cooking classes. Also featuring here are food fairs that feature local products and the visits to various producers, markets, museums and souvenir shops. The potentials of gastronomic tourism have been highlighted in terms of encouraging travelers to tour other states and foreign nations in pursuit of the best and memorable food experience globally. How gastronomy can be understood as a tourism product Since tourists must eat, and at least partake in the local food experience, gastronomy is often a definite part of tourism experiences. Actually, the 21st century has seen the recognition and rise of the gastronomy tourism primarily as valuable asset, besides being incorporated within a destination’s tourism offerings. Even though gastronomic tourism may have its limits due to the fact that not all tourists are attracted by the local food, gastronomy tourism generally presents competitive advantages for particular destinations employing it in comparison to some other tourism segments (Cohen & Avieli, 2004). This actually translates not only to the development, but also promotion of several products related to gastronomic tourism, including wine routes, short breaks, and also food fairs. When particular areas concerned with matters regarding foodstuffs, for instance the eateries, vineyards, cooking schools, and the local shopping centres or malls are scrutinized with regards to the links existing between them and tourism, it actually emerges that the endeavours still inform gastronomic tourism (Allen & Albala, 2007). This may however be much evident with the touring of such places as wholesale markets, farmers markets, wine trails, food trails, specialty produce stores, Fine wine retail cellars, Food producer, cooking schools and farm stays. A visit to Australia’s fine wine retail cellar and the cooking class significantly highlighted this. A Visit to a cooking school and Fine wine retail cellar According to Howe (2013), Australia is ranked among the top countries worldwide in terms of the food and wine tourism, ranked at position 23 by consumers who have not yet visited the country and third position by those who have already visited the country. It was therefore a great opportunity to take a focused visit in this particular country considered to be ranking third behind France and Italy in terms of the major gastronomic destinations globally. Australia is also ranked at position eight globally by the World Tourism Organization in term of tourism receipts. Cooking School While many cooking experiences, for several years, have often been dominated by serious food experts only, nowadays the recreational cooking lessons and classes are suitably meant for all travelers despite their ability levels (Wolf, 2006). During a visit to a cooking school in Sydney, Sydney Seafood School, there were a number of factors that highlighted much concerning gastronomy. Featuring an excellent line-up of notable chefs, the cooking school offers a very unique approach towards culinary experience, thereby making visitors who seek unique experiences to find it suitable for them. The chefs are actually dedicated to teaching the visitors on culinary traditions. This actually immerses the visitors into the culture that exist therein. Besides, the visitors enter into genuinely existing culture by the most authentic tradition, which is food and its preparation, thereby learning much about people through the culinary traditions. In the cooking school, visitors are offered interactive and hands-on cooking experiences not only in various culinary techniques but also in the preparation of regional cuisines with ethnic flavours. The classes also present opportunities of tasting prepared dishes, and in most cases enjoying a complete meal with some wine at the end of classes. The participants are as well allowed to prepare such food from the scratch within separate kitchens, which definitely attracts enthusiasts. Such culinary experiences enable visitors to have a memorable and an outstanding gastronomic-travelling experience, hence influencing their willingness to return and recommend such destinations to potential tourists. The formats available within the teaching class include short demonstrations, half-day sessions for people in need of cooking experiences within their vacation itineraries, and multi-day resort packages for travelers interested in total culinary travel. The unique location and facilities of the cooking school are as well a definite attraction. In the world of tourism, uniqueness plays a significant role in forming identity and creating a competitive edge (López-Guzmán & Sánchez-Cañizares, 2011). In fact, apart from offering warm hospitality, the cooking school both beautiful and interesting, a factor which makes a simple travel to be a true and memorable cultural experience. To enhance visitor/tourist experience, many cooking schools have massively invested in advanced professional educational kitchens featuring individual advanced cooking stations. In view of the above, it is true that culinary travels are interestingly appealing to many travelers regardless of their age and hence a better way for the couples, families children and other individuals to enjoy their vacation regardless of the season Fine wine retail cellar New South Wales as a whole is quite famed for its legendary wineries especially in towns like hunter valley and Mudgee towns which are famed for the production of award winning wines that are made available to the various cellar doors. A visit to a fine wine retailer in Sydney, Wine Odyssey Australia, highlights some significant factors regarding gastronomy as a tourist product. The destination has some outstanding and compelling wines sourced from the leading producers. The wines are easily enjoyable and just as other wines in the global market. However, the wines are actually rich in flavor and unique. There are occasions when wine events may be held, occasions that are characterized by live jazz, wine tasting, and wine events combining food, wine and art. This particular visit informed a lot on gastronomy especially considering the wine tasting and sampling of a variety of wines. As an experiential baggage taken home by tourists, gastronomy plays a significant role in enabling the cultural capital as well as the consumption skills evident to others. In the two visits, gastronomy has been presented as a fundamental way of distinguishing between tastes and preferences. That gastronomy plays an integral role in the human society is without a doubt, especially since it also unites people and allows them to appreciate their diversity. Gastronomy itself, according to the two visits, entails various activities, products, activities and services demonstrating a particular region’s recipes, talents of the cooks and uniqueness so as to provide a long-lasting experience. For gastronomy to be successful however, some highlighted critical factors that to be considered within destinations include linking the food experiences with tourism, providing an excellent culinary offer that attracts visitors and showcasing authentic local cuisine alongside the given glocalized food (Kivela & Crotts, 2009). Conclusion Gastronomy has generally become a highly dynamic tourism segment and an integral part of tourism experience. It plays a significant role in tourism and provides a competitive edge to destinations that integrate it in their tourism offerings. Its significance actually goes beyond being a tourist attraction to being a major factor for development in local, regional as well as national levels. Gastronomy, however, varies between destinations, with some destinations having richer gastronomy than others. In the above analysis, gastronomy has been elaborately discussed as playing a significant role in destination visits. Having immense potentials for developing as well as marketing a tourism destination internationally, gastronomy is currently a key determinant of choice destination among tourists as they are actually eager consumers of the gastronomic products. Their motive to visit such destinations, however, is dictated upon by the destination’s gastronomic products. Gastronomy is also increasingly regarded as promoting creativity within destinations as tourists increasingly embrace learning while also being eager to promote cultural diversity within destinations. Actually, gastronomic holidays are increasingly becoming a vital aspect of creativity whereby tourists learn more on cooking, ingredients used, and the growing of food, hence eventually appreciating the culinary traditions existing. Gastronomy can therefore crucial in leaving tourists with unique, memorable experiences. Bibliography Allen, G & Albala, K., 2007, The business of food: encyclopedia of the food and drink, Westport: Greenwood Press. Cohen, E. & Avieli, N., 2004, Food in Tourism – Attraction and Impediment, Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 755-778 Goeldner, C. & Ritchies, B., 2006, Tourism: Principles, practices and philosophies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Howe, G., 2013, Wine tourism beyond the cellar door, Wine News retrieved on 18th October 2013 from Henderson, J. 2009, Food Tourism Reviewed, British Food Journal, 111(4), Pp 318-325 Kivela, J. & Crotts, J., 2006, Tourism and gastronomy: gastronomy’s influence on how tourists experience a destination, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 30 (3), pp. 354-377. Kivela, J. & Crotts, J., 2009, Understanding Travelers' Experiences of Gastronomy through Etymology and Narration, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research vol. 33 (2) Pp 161-192 López-Guzmán, T. & Sánchez-Cañizares, S., 2011, Gastronomy, Tourism and Destination Differentiation: A Case Study in Spain, Review of Economics & Finance, Pp 63-72 Su, C & Horng, J., 2012, Recent Developments in Research and Future Directions of Culinary Tourism: A Review, Visions for Global Tourism Industry - Creating and Sustaining Competitive Strategies, InTech. Wolf, E., 2006, Culinary Tourism: The Hidden Harvest, Kendall Hunt Publishing. Read More