The Importance of the Gastronomy to the Tourism Industry - Term Paper Example

Research Report-Gastronomy Name Instructor’s name Institution affiliation Location Date Contents Research Report-Gastronomy 3 Executive summary 3 Introduction 3 Overview of the places of visit 4 Importance of gastronomy as a tourism product 5 Relationship between gastronomy and agritourism 5 Relationship between gastronomy and culinary tourism as well as food tourism 6 Relationship between gastronomy and gastronomic tourism 6 Purpose of travel 7 Understanding of Gastronomy from the visits 8 Conclusion 9 Reference list 10 Research Report-Gastronomy Executive summary The report has made its focus on gastronomy and tourism through the evaluation of the visit of visits that I made to two places that is; Phillip Island Chocolate factory and Queen Victoria market. It has looked at the theoretical understanding of gastronomy and tourism in the context of its definition. It has gone further to bring forward the relationship between gastronomy and other elements of tourism as culinary tourism, food tourism, agritourism, and gastronomic tourism. The report provides the overview of the two places that I made a visit to as well as analyzing the main content creating tourists love for those places. The report has given my understanding of gastronomy and tourism with regard to my places of visit. It has not only considered the development and relationship between gastronomy and other aspects of tourism but also looked at the importance of the gastronomy to the tourism industry. The report has been concluded through the provision of my understanding on gastronomy and tourism as well as the role of the management in ensuring continuity in the sector. Introduction Gastronomy is the art of selecting, preparing, serving and enjoying fine food and it includes the typical peasant food for the region and local cuisine (Dalby, 2013). It includes the development of the food sector for the tourism with regard to cultural practices as well as the relationship in food to different cultures. With the increase in competition towards the development of the tourism sectors within countries, the local cultures are becoming an increasingly valuable source of the new products introduction in the countries. The tourism sector has become more mobile in the economy of today with the similar action happening in the food that the tourists eat (Medina-Muñoz et. all, 2013). The development of the gastronomy has evolved through several years with different understandings of the concepts creating the various ways of doing things in the tourism industry. In order to understand the workability of gastronomy and its influence on tourism, I made the trips to the Philip Island chocolate factory and the Queen Victoria market to understand the dynamic actions of the gastronomy. Overview of the places of visit Phillip Island is a chocolate making factory and it is believed to be the factory that makes the sweetest and most addictive chocolates within the city. The Island offers cakes, which serves different purposes for various functions and activities to suit the needs of the events as well as the needs of the people. They offer cakes for amazing attractions that deals with different machine representations, fascinating facts and above all offering cakes for specific needs of the customers which are offered as take away (Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, 2016). They also offer cakes for the cafés and shops which they attribute to have no similarity to any other place in the world. They also offer free samples to the customers as well as for school visits for the entire ages of individuals within the institutions (Phillip Island Chocolate Factory, 2016). Queen Victoria market is located within Melbourne East shop which explores and discover the different ways through which iconic food are made. In the market, the industry is concerned with offering iconic food halls and heritage sheds where the banter is presented to the customers in a manner which is as fresh as it is produced. What the environment provides to the customers is too cool that the customers can receive the largest market open-air in its southern hemisphere. It offers the opportunity for all the members to interact with the community for the actions that are taking place within the society. The industry has extended its popularity through partnering with other sectors of development such as the media corporations (Queen Victoria Market, 2016). Importance of gastronomy as a tourism product According to Bessiere and Tibere (2013), some of the importance of gastronomy as the tourism product includes; it determines the ways of developing the niche for the travel and destination among communities within and outside the country. Secondly, it helps to determine the quality of the tourists experience within the area of destinations after their return to their respective countries. This is achieved through the evaluation of the gastronomic changes that the visits bring to the society as well as the changes that the tourists implement in their respective countries. Thirdly it is used to retain the tourist to a specific place of a visit during tourism seasons and periods. When a specific group of tourists is offered with the best gastronomy at a place, they will easily return to that specific place to enjoy the same gastronomy hence creating the sense of retention. Lastly, it helps the management to easily identify the mistakes within the areas of the visit and have an instant correction of the problems. Relationship between gastronomy and agritourism Food and agricultural products have common connections that bring tourists from different parts of the world to have a taste as well as to understand the mode of agriculture taking place in an area. Many food tourism industries have gained attention over the past many years in relation to the attracted local produce and destination towards the products developments and marketing. Gastronomy being a tourism factor that deals with food preparation, the origin of a given type of food can only be understood with the agricultural built up or generation of that kind of food. The destination of the food and its market creates the uniqueness of its agricultural origin creating the need for visiting such places encouraging tourism phenomena known as agritourism (Carruthers, Burns, and Elliott, 2015). Relationship between gastronomy and culinary tourism as well as food tourism Culinary tourism is the type of tourism that is concerned with the travel to different destinations with the purpose of enjoying a specific type of food. It is sometimes referred to as a cultural type of tourism which ensures that the travels are made to evaluate the cultural types of foods that different areas and places cook. Gastronomy being an understanding of the way in which food is prepared, it relates to culinary tourism as tourist come to enjoy the specific types of food in different destinations with different servings and preparations means (NS Robinson and Getz, 2014). An area with a specific and defined mode of food preparation is the one that is more likely to receive more visitors to have a taste at what they offer for their clients. The cultural gastronomy also provides the opportunity for getting more tourists as unique cultural food preparation ensures that individuals develop an urge for a specific type of food. Relationship between gastronomy and gastronomic tourism Gastronomic tourism is based on the domestic type of tourism which deals with the local foods and beverages. The way specific foods are prepared and served in different areas determined the attraction that those food offer to the individuals of the area and beyond. With this understanding, food forms the basic understanding on how the tourists travel all over a given area (Richards, 2014). The love that people develop locally for food a practice for gastronomy for diets increases the number of tourists which are attributed to be gastronomic tourism. Purpose of travel The reason for my travel to the two places that is the Queen Victoria Market and Philip Island Chocolate factory was to determine the effects of different environment on tourism. I wanted to determine how various aspects of gastronomy affect both domestic and global tourism. Visiting the place was to help me compare the relationship that exists between different modes of tourism attraction. Finally, visiting the places was to help me in familiarizing with the products they offer as well as the setup of the different places towards the development attraction of more tourists. The information that I was to gather from the place was to help me in developing different aspects of tourisms as well as the set-up and arrangement of the places towards winning the trust and love of the tourists. Despite the good expectations that I had while visiting the place, I got enough exposure, and I also learnt from the visitors whom I found at the site. I learnt that different tourists visit different places for different reasons and some of which included; some only visit places to enjoy the food and the culture of the place. Secondly, they visit to enjoy the good scenario and set-up of a given place which facilitates their relaxation and release of stress. Lastly, some visit the place to inquire about the recipe and the ways through which different foods are prepared. From the visit, I learnt different recipes for different types of food especially with cakes form the island visits. I equipped myself with different cultures which I gained from various groups of people including the visitors in the visited areas. It was a good environment for me, and I appreciated the diversity that is offered within the context of tourism sector by the two places that I visited. Understanding of Gastronomy from the visits From my visits, I gained a different understanding of gastronomy towards tourism sector. Some of which included; I visited the places to understand the different food variety that is offered to the visitors’ which forms part of gastronomy (Bessiere and Tibere, 2013). I realized that most of the visitors that were present at the places were for one reason or the other present at the places to enjoy the good meal that was to be offered by the Island and an indication of the food tourism which has a connection with the gastronomy and tourism. The visits in order to enjoy the good atmosphere of the market as well as the variety of the products that are offered within the market represented gastronomy. I enjoyed the agricultural products as well as the production process within the market an indication of the agritourism, which has the connection with the gastronomy and tourism means (NS Robinson and Getz, 2014). The different types of cultures that were presented in the areas of visit showed a wide variation and understanding of the cultures which form the basis for gastronomy as well as the culinary tourism an indication of the understanding of the various aspects of gastronomy and tourism. The gastronomy and tourism treatment in my areas of visit ensured that they cater for all the cultures as they provided the different understanding of foods and services for both local and international visitors. According to Dalby (2013), some of the characteristics of the gastronomy and tourism that came out clearly during my time of visit included; first I discovered that tourism and gastronomy are accompanied with food which tourist use to survive as well as a source of discovery for other cultures. The second characteristic realized was the ability of gastronomy to request for the involvement of every individual in the area of the visit. The involvement characteristic was indicated by the fact that different cakes within the island could be made according to the individuals’ specifications. Lastly, the places of the visit had hotspots in the location of the menu as well as food locations to avoid confusion among the tourists on the location of the foods and accommodation. The attendance at the two places of the visit was a mixture of tourists and the locals. The tourists in this context include both the domestic and the tourists from outside the country. The visitors, as well as the locals, were treated almost the same way as the industries developed the gastronomy system which was serving in relation to the cultural needs and understandings. Conclusion From the discussion, different institutions have different ways of attracting and winning the largest market share within a given country. Gastronomy and tourism are two but similar operations which serve for the best of the organization which perceives to develop itself in the tourism industry. Understanding of the diversity that is brought to individuals with relation to change in the food consumption is important for the tourism sectors. Managers of the different tourism industries need to understand the diversity that is being brought by the cultures towards different food and appreciate that culture also undergoes gastronomy processes. The visits were very important to me as they helped me to appreciate the various aspects of gastronomy and tourists through receiving of the first-hand information. It was a good experience that every individual with the interest of understanding the tourism industries should undertake to be familiar with both cultural and gastronomic diversity. Reference list Bessiere, J. and Tibere, L., 2013. Traditional food and tourism: French tourist experience and food heritage in rural spaces. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 93(14), pp.3420-3425. Carruthers, C., Burns, A. and Elliott, G., 2015. Development, sustainability and applications–a case study of County Cork, Republic of Ireland. The Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Food and Gastronomy. Abingdon: Routledge, pp.360-9. Dalby, A., 2013. Siren feasts: a history of food and gastronomy in Greece. Routledge. Medina-Muñoz, D.R., Medina-Muñoz, R.D. and Chim-Miki, A.F., 2013. Tourism competitiveness assessment: The current status of research in Spain and China. Tourism Economics, 19(2), pp.297-318. NS Robinson, R. and Getz, D., 2014. Profiling potential food tourists: An Australian study. British Food Journal, 116(4), pp.690-706. Phillip Island Chocolate Factory. (2016). Home - Phillip Island Chocolate Factory. [online] Available at: http://phillipislandchocolatefactory.com.au/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2016]. Queen Victoria Market. (2016). Queen Victoria Market. [online] Available at: http://www.qvm.com.au/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2016]. Richards, G., 2014, November. The role of gastronomy in tourism development. In Fourth International Congress on Noble Houses: A Heritage for the Future. Read More