Gastronomic Tourism in Australia - Report Example

Gastronomic Tourism in Australia Name: Course: Tutor: Institution: City and State: Date: Table of Contents Gastronomic Tourism in Australia Introduction Tourism is one of the most lucrative industries in the world with the world’s top tourist destinations earning billions of dollars in revenue each year from the visitors that they receive. As globalization continues to bring the world closer together, more people are becoming interested in visiting other countries and regions. There are many reasons why people are interested in visiting foreign places. The wildlife, scenery, weather and historical significance of the world’s top tourist destinations serve to attract more than ten million visitors per year. Australia is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, with the sector being one of the country’s most vital sectors due to the revenue that it generates for the country and the employment that it creates. Major tourist attractions in Australia currently include the wildlife, marine features and cultural centres such as Sydney. As the tourism sector continues to grow and expand, other features start becoming attractions for people wanting to travel. Australia’s local cuisine is fast becoming a reason for people from other parts of the world to visit Australia. The country has one of the most developed food and wine industries and is home to some of the most prestigious eateries in the world. Because of these factors, Australia’s food and wine sectors have the potential of combining to become major tourist attractions, as gastronomic tourism continues to develop in the region and around the world. Site Visit Experiences Wine Trails Wine trails form a part of Australia’s lucrative tourism industry. The nation has a strong reputation for producing some of the finest wine in the world. Australia has attained this prestige by dedicating a considerable amount of resources on the industries, giving them the capability to grow and become globally competitive. The growth of Australia’s wine industry has led to the emergence of several wine trails around the country. One of the best wine trails in Australia is the Yarra Valley Journey. Located fifty kilometres from Melbourne, the Yarra Valley Journey allows visitors to experience the winemaking tradition and culture of Yarra Valley in a wine trail that starts at Chateau Yering and visits the Yering Station Vineyard as well as the Healesville Sanctuary. The visit to Healesville Sanctuary gives visitors to see wildlife that lives within Yarra Valley. However, the most important part of the trail sees visitors pass through the Yering Station Vineyard and learn how the winery makes its fine wines. Some of the wines that guests can taste at the Yarra Valley Journey include the Yering Station Village Chardonnay, Yering Sangiovese 2011 Yering Station Village Cabernet Sauvignon. The visitors can taste these wines while relaxing at the Yering Station Restaurant in an experience that helps them experience Australia’s winemaking culture Food Trails Food trails are also emerging in Australia as the country’s cuisine continues to increase its global prestige and receive more attention from foreigners. The idea of entertaining tourists and guests through food trails is new in Australia. However, the concept of food trails as tourist attractions is becoming increasingly popular. During the food trails, tourists have the opportunity of learning about Australia’s food farming and food production methods from some the best players in the sector. The experience also allows them to sample some of the foods that Australian farmers and firms produce, as they familiarize themselves with the local cuisine. Some of the more popular food trails in Australia normally combine food and wine industries as a way of combining the benefits and popularity of the country’s two industries. The Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne has one of the best food trails in Australia. Colloquially known as Vic Market, the market is located within Melbourne’s central business district, on the corner of Victoria and Elizabeth. The market has been in existence for more than a century, during which it has become a popular destination for visitors seeking to experience the exuberant culture of Melbourne. The food available at Queen Victoria Market is an important aspect of Melbourne’s culture and it allows visitors to learn more about the city. Some of the foods that visitors to the market can sample include grapes, passionfruit, mangoes and apricots in the summer and apples, eggplants, cereliac, olives, pears and nashi in autumn. An equally important of the Queen Victoria Market food trail is the opportunity to see how some poplar meals in Melbourne are prepared as well as the methods that farmers use to grow some of the foods. Gastronomy as a Form of Tourism The knowledge of the activities and practices that are included in food and wine trails helps to increase the understanding of how gastronomy forms a distinct field of tourism. Shenoy (2005) explains that consumption is one of the most important features of tourism. When tourists travel to different locations, they normally base their activities on the consumption of various substances of value. In many cases, their consumption involves the intake of the atmosphere, sights and sounds of a specific location. The consumption that tourists engage in is the foundation of their activities because it provides them with the satisfaction that they seek, while simultaneously providing the host communities and countries with revenue in return. Indeed, tourism is one of the most important service sectors in the world, as it solely sustains many regions and nations in the world. The combination of gastronomy and tourism normally results in the improvement of the latter (Shenoy 2005). Food is already an important part of any tourist experience because most people normally dine in the local cuisine of the locations that they visit. Because of this, the complete tourist experience normally includes the consumption of a location’s sounds, tastes, sights and smells. The introduction of gastronomy into tourism normally entails an increase in the attention that people pay to the culinary aspects of the average tourist experience. Gastronomy is a concept that entails a range of issues. Gillespie and Cousins (2011) explain that gastronomy is a concept that revolves around the enjoyment of good foods and beverages while in an experience that is complemented by the nature of the hosts, company and location. Accordingly, gastronomy is a concept that is not limited to the enjoyment of good cuisine. Other scholars view gastronomy as a study that specifically deals with foods and beverages. Scarpato (2003) explains that the concept of gastronomy is centuries old, having first emerged in 1804 in a publication by Jacques Berchoux. From a simplistic perspective, gastronomy is concerned with the enjoyment of good foods and beverages. However, other scholars expanded the concept to include other matters concerning food. This expansion has seen gastronomy refer to other processes concerning food such as its production, treatment, transportation, preservation and even the economy surrounding it. The modern approach to the discipline of gastronomy has seen educators merge it with sectors and fields such as tourism and hospitality (Lin 2006). This has resulted in a confluence of the gastronomy and tourism and the emergence of gastronomic tourism. This means that gastronomic tourism is a concept that involves a wide range of practices and ideas mostly revolving around food and the processes surrounding its consumption and preparation. Gastronomic tourism has existed for a long time but without much recognition. Food consumption has always been one of the aspects of tourism and travelling. While eating is a necessity, food tourism is a concept that concerns travelling and touring with the specific intention of engaging in the local cuisine of the host community (Visentin 2011). However, many scholars have ignored this aspect of travelling and touring in their discourse. Mak, Lumbers and Eves (2012) explain that most of the discourse on tourism has often ignored the aspect of travelling where people eat in unfamiliar contexts. For some people this has always formed an important part of the travelling experience. In some cases, the gastronomic aspect of touring can be an enticing and luring factor for the tourists, encouraging them to visit a specific location. In other instances, the local cuisine can act as an impediment to tourism (Mak, Lumbers & Eves 2012). The absence of desirable cuisine can detract from the tourist experiences of some travellers and become an obstacle for their future travels to a certain location. Accordingly, the gastronomic aspect of tourism, though largely ignored over the years, is an important issue in the field from both a positive and negative point of view. Gastronomic tourism is also important because of the way that it affects the prospects of tourism in various countries in the world. Currently, the field is growing rapidly, with many countries now considering it an important part of the future of tourism (Boyne, Hall & Williams 2003). Various bodies in Australia are particularly keen on the future of gastronomic tourism, with some organizations such as the Winemakers’ Association of Australia (WFA) looking to exploit the field to their benefit (Winemakers’ Federation of Australia [WFA] 2012). The WFA recently released statistics showing how valuable gastronomic tourism has become to the entire field in Australia. According to the WFA (2012), the tourism industry contributed 33 billion dollars to the nation’s gross domestic product in 2009, with 7.1 billion coming from wine tourism. In that year, six hundred and sixty thousand of the tourists who visited Australia went to various wineries in the country. That the number of people visiting wineries only made up thirteen percent of the total tourists in the nation means that there is room for expansion in the sector. Additionally, the fact that a large number of people were interested in seeing how Australian wine makers produce their products is testament to the fact that gastronomy can be a real aspect of tourism. For many people, the complete food experience does not just involve the consumption of various foods and beverages but an understanding of the methods through which they are prepared. The country’s plans to combine wine and food tourism shows that this interest does not lie with wine alone. In addition to its economic importance, gastronomic tourism also serves as a valuable form of cultural exchange. Long (2004) explains that food is an important part of every culture in the world. The local cuisine of different locations and regions forms an important part of their attributes. This means that the food and beverages that people consume in a specific place normally helps to complement the tourist experience that visitors can have in the location. Because of this cultural significance, gastronomy is an aspect of cultural tourism (Hjalager 2003). By visiting different locations and sampling the foods and beverages available there, tourists are able to absorb the culture of the host community in a different way. Ennion (2013) explains that gastronomy as a form of cultural tourism is encompassed by processes in which people understand their host cultures by learning how they make and consume their foods and beverages. In addition to this absorption of culture, gastronomic tourism also has the advantage of giving the tourists a different way of experiencing a place (Hall et al. 2011). Rather than passively touring a location by viewing sites and attractions, gastronomic tourism allows visitors to be participants as they engage in a learning process and then partake in the consumption of various foods. Even though industry experts identify gastronomy as a distinct form of tourism, some scholars claim that its emergence is obligatory and not symbolic. Perhaps one of the reasons why scholars often overlook gastronomy as a form of tourism is the fact that eating is a necessity and not a luxury (Mason 2010). When tourists visit a specific location, they most likely face limited options on the food that they can eat. In many cases, the tourists have to do with the local cuisine. For this reason, some scholars argue that gastronomy is obligatory and not symbolic in any way. One issue that these arguments overlook is the fact that gastronomy involves much more than the simple consumption of food (Croce & Perri 2010). An equally important aspect of gastronomy is the understanding of the processes through which the local community prepares the food and the practices of consumption. Conclusion The consumption of foods and the touring of exotic locations are two practices that people have carried out together for a long time. The fact that people need to eat means that tourists often indulge in the cuisine of foreign locations when they travel. However, the further confluence of the two activities has resulted in gastronomic tourism. In gastronomic tourism, the consumption of food is not a by-product of the tourist’s travels but the sole intention of his or her journey. The concept involves travelling to foreign locations with the purpose of viewing the food production process of the local people as a way of better understanding their culture. Though scholars have long ignored gastronomy as a facet of tourism, the growth of the sector in the 21st century has changed the situation. Now, many experts and organizations consider food and beverages important aspects of the basic tourist experience and are trying to expand them to further develop the sectors. References Boyne, S, Hall, D & Williams, F 2003, ‘Policy, support and promotion for food-related tourism initiatives: A marketing approach to regional development’, in Wine, food and tourism marketing eds CM Hall, Haworth Hospitality Press, Binghamton, pp. 131-153. Croce, E & Perri, G 2010, Food and wine tourism: Integrating food, travel and territory, Cambridge, Wallingford. Ennion, J 2013, Food foraging the next travel trend in Australia, says gastronomic tourism expert David Scott, Daily Telegraph, viewed 12 August 2014, < http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/travel/food-foraging-the-next-travel-trend-in-australia-says-gastronomic-tourism-expert-david-scott/story-fnjjuxwc-1226745602256?nk=0e7aee5972df8f834aa0517a98d8a0d4> Gillespie, C & Cousins, JA 2011, European gastronomy into the 21st century, Routledge, New York. Hjalager, A 2003, ‘A typology of gastronomy tourism’, in Tourism and gastronomy, eds A Hjalager & G Richards, Routledge, London, pp. 21-35. Lin, YC 2006, ‘Food images in destination marketing’, Msc thesis, Purdue University. Long, LM 2004, Culinary tourism, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington. Mak, AHN, Lumbers, M & Eves, A 2012, ‘Globalisation and food consumption in tourism’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 171-196. Mason, RJ 2010, ‘Critical factors in the development and performance of food and wine trails in Australia’, PhD. Thesis, Victoria University. Hall, CM, Sharples, L, Mitchell, R, Macionis, N & Cambourne, B 2011, Food tourism around the world, Routledge, New York. Scarpato, R 2003, ‘Gastronomy as a tourist product: the perspective of gastronomy studies’, in Tourism and gastronomy, eds A Hjalager & G Richards, Routledge, London, pp. 51-70. Shenoy, SS 2005, ‘Food tourism and the culinary tourist’, PhD thesis, Clemson University. Visentin, C 2011, ‘Food, Agri-culture and tourism’, in Food, agri-culture and tourism: Linking local gastronomy and rural tourism: Interdisciplinary perspectives eds KL Sidali, A Spiller & B Schultze, Springer, Berlin, pp. 1-6. Winemakers Federation of Australia [WFA] 2012, Harnessing the tourism potential of wine and food in Australia, Winemakers’ Federation of Australia, Canberra. Read More

Gastronomy as a Form of Tourism The knowledge of the activities and practices that are included in food and wine trails helps to increase the understanding of how gastronomy forms a distinct field of tourism. Shenoy (2005) explains that consumption is one of the most important features of tourism. When tourists travel to different locations, they normally base their activities on the consumption of various substances of value. In many cases, their consumption involves the intake of the atmosphere, sights and sounds of a specific location.

The consumption that tourists engage in is the foundation of their activities because it provides them with the satisfaction that they seek, while simultaneously providing the host communities and countries with revenue in return. Indeed, tourism is one of the most important service sectors in the world, as it solely sustains many regions and nations in the world. The combination of gastronomy and tourism normally results in the improvement of the latter (Shenoy 2005). Food is already an important part of any tourist experience because most people normally dine in the local cuisine of the locations that they visit.

Because of this, the complete tourist experience normally includes the consumption of a location’s sounds, tastes, sights and smells. The introduction of gastronomy into tourism normally entails an increase in the attention that people pay to the culinary aspects of the average tourist experience. Gastronomy is a concept that entails a range of issues. Gillespie and Cousins (2011) explain that gastronomy is a concept that revolves around the enjoyment of good foods and beverages while in an experience that is complemented by the nature of the hosts, company and location.

Accordingly, gastronomy is a concept that is not limited to the enjoyment of good cuisine. Other scholars view gastronomy as a study that specifically deals with foods and beverages. Scarpato (2003) explains that the concept of gastronomy is centuries old, having first emerged in 1804 in a publication by Jacques Berchoux. From a simplistic perspective, gastronomy is concerned with the enjoyment of good foods and beverages. However, other scholars expanded the concept to include other matters concerning food.

This expansion has seen gastronomy refer to other processes concerning food such as its production, treatment, transportation, preservation and even the economy surrounding it. The modern approach to the discipline of gastronomy has seen educators merge it with sectors and fields such as tourism and hospitality (Lin 2006). This has resulted in a confluence of the gastronomy and tourism and the emergence of gastronomic tourism. This means that gastronomic tourism is a concept that involves a wide range of practices and ideas mostly revolving around food and the processes surrounding its consumption and preparation.

Gastronomic tourism has existed for a long time but without much recognition. Food consumption has always been one of the aspects of tourism and travelling. While eating is a necessity, food tourism is a concept that concerns travelling and touring with the specific intention of engaging in the local cuisine of the host community (Visentin 2011). However, many scholars have ignored this aspect of travelling and touring in their discourse. Mak, Lumbers and Eves (2012) explain that most of the discourse on tourism has often ignored the aspect of travelling where people eat in unfamiliar contexts.

For some people this has always formed an important part of the travelling experience. In some cases, the gastronomic aspect of touring can be an enticing and luring factor for the tourists, encouraging them to visit a specific location. In other instances, the local cuisine can act as an impediment to tourism (Mak, Lumbers & Eves 2012). The absence of desirable cuisine can detract from the tourist experiences of some travellers and become an obstacle for their future travels to a certain location.

Accordingly, the gastronomic aspect of tourism, though largely ignored over the years, is an important issue in the field from both a positive and negative point of view.

Read More