Relationship between Gastronomy and Tourism - Essay Example

Rеlаtiоnshiр bеtwееn Gаstrоnоmy аnd Тоurism Name Course Institution Date Table of Content Introduction…………………………………………………………………..3 Farmers Market……………………………………………………………….4 Farm Stay……………………………………………………………………..6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………8 References…………………………………………………………………….9 Rеlаtiоnshiр bеtwееn Gаstrоnоmy аnd Тоurism Introduction Tourism is a very important sector to every country. It is one of the main sources of foreign currency to many countries. The element that attracts tourists to a specific country is what is referred to as tourism product. The uniqueness of the tourism products determines the number of tourists that the country manages to attract. These tourism products are very varied in nature. Such products range from natural products like landscape, wildlife, historic sites to man made products like structures, food, dressing, etc. All these have different affinities of attracting tourists into a country. In addition to the tourism products that have been mentioned, there are other factors that also contribute to the attraction of tourists in a country. For instance, the level of security will either encourage or discourage tourists from visiting certain countries. A country that is dedicated to attracting tourists therefore has a responsibility of ensuring that such issues are fixed appropriately. The country ought to ensure that apart from the various products that the tourists are interested in, factors like security are facilitators and ought to be given special considerations. Having pointed out that, it is easier to explain why most Middle Eastern countries do not attract tourists. In Australia, there are so many tourism products. The cultural attractions, entertainment, transport, dining, accommodation, etc. provide a range that gives tourists a complete set of experience. In this report, study has been carried out in relation to specific tourism products in the country. The report seeks to identify the potential of certain products to attract tourists in the country (McGhee 2009, p. 114). To be specific, this report deals with gastronomy and its potential to attract tourists in Australia. It investigates how delicacies and related accompaniments can bring about flourishing tourism in the country. In this case, gastronomy is viewed as the study of food and culture. It is described as an art of preparing, serving and consuming delicious meals. With such information, the related agencies can seek ways of exploiting gastronomy for the benefit of tourism attraction in the country. To narrow down, the report focuses on only two sites. The two sites are the market and the farm. Farmers market is a platform where farmers sell their products. In such places, farmers sell their products in bulk. Varieties of food stuffs are actually found in such places. On the other hand, farm stay refers to various kinds of accommodation that are located on an operating farm. Farmers Market In order to understand the link between gastronomy and tourism, experience gained during a visit to a farmers’ market has been used. The visit provided a lot of information that can be very useful in explaining the relationship between gastronomy and tourism. The visit took place in New South Wales State at a farmers market known as New Brighton. The experience gained tells a lot about gastronomy. To begin with, some of the main components of gastronomy involve discovering, experiencing and researching information about food. Such processes can be fulfilling when one takes a visit to a farmers market. The variety of food products that are found in a farmers market provides an allowance for one to discover, experience and research information that is pertinent to gastronomy (Andrée, Dibden, Higgins & Cocklin 2010, p. 312). It is from such markets that the choicest food is selected for preparation. The fact that such market has a variety of food product means that gastronomes have a wide range of choices in relation to the desired cuisines. New Brighton Farmers Market boosts of a wide range of cereals, fruits, salads, bananas, etc. The market opens between 8 am and 11 am on Tuesday. In such markets, there are high quality products that cannot just be found anywhere on earth. During the day of the visit, there are a number of food products that seemingly stood out. A wide range of such foods were the health-giving organic vegetables. These were fresh vegetables that are mainly sold to restaurants and hotels around the region. There was also a wide range of poultry products. These were being offered at what I would call fair prices especially when compared to their prices in shopping malls. In this market, there are restaurants where people visit to have a real taste of the various food products being sold in the market (McGhee 2009, p. 116). Many people indeed visit this farmers market. This indeed is not limited to the local people. Even tourists often find their way to these markets to have an experience of some of the food products. It goes without saying that some of these farmers markets have the best gastronomes in various states. Tourists are thrilled by such products and they always love experience it over and over. The government has put the various means meant to ensure that such markets are effective in serving consumers. The health standards are constantly upgraded to ensure that many consumers gain confidence in service and products being sold in such markets (Andrée, Dibden, Higgins & Cocklin 2010, p. 318). Regardless of how one may choose to view farmers markets, the element of gastronomy is not absent. It is clear that gastronomes buy their best raw foods from farmers markets. This is considered as part of the process that is referred to as gastronomy. Such food products may be prepared in different destinations. These include restaurants, hotels, clubs and other social and recreational centers (McGhee 2009, p113). These centers represent places where tourists spend most of their time. As it has already been pointed out, one of the tourism attractions is cultural practices. Food is one of the main components of culture that defines a country. Just like there are certain foods that define countries like France, Italy, Malaysia, China, there are also foods that define Australia. Such foods preserve some cultural practices that are identical to the country. Tourists come to Australia to have a taste of such foods (Morgan 2012, p. 149). They are uniquely prepared by gastronomes in the country. This clearly means that investment in gastronomy is pivotal in boosting tourism in Australia. The government institutions dealing with culture as well as tourism must put such factors into consideration as they design ways of boosting the country’s tourism sector. Farm Stay This is yet another component that makes up gastronomy. While this is a component that serves gastronomes, it has allowances that make it attend to tourists directly. The manner in which farm stays have been constructed makes it possible to attend to the diverse needs of tourists who are attracted to such places. Farm stays are constructed in a way that allows them to host tourists. This is because there are specific accommodation facilities that are designed to be used by such tourists when visiting these sites. Indeed I had such an experience when I visited one in Canberra. Farm stays provide a wide range of products and services that provide unique experience to tourists (DeBarbieri 2009, p. 52). Tourists get to enjoy some of the best delicacies not just in Canberra, but in Australia as a whole. This is very fulfilling for many tourists that come to Australia. When one talks about delicacies that are served in such farm stays, the issue of gastronomy is coming up again. Gastronomy makes it to possible serve the different kinds of tourists that visit farm stays to satisfaction (Morgan 2012, p. 162). The gastronomes study the various preferences of tourists and design products that uniquely meet the needs of the tourists. Based on the origin and other features of the tourists, gastronomes are able to design products that are preferred by such tourists. In farm stays, there is a variety of products that tourists are interested in. many people want to reconnect with their heritage and specifically the rural setup. One way of connecting to their heritage is when they visit such farm stays (McKeeman 2003, p. 42). Farm stays do have varieties of poultry as well as ranch facilities. Tourists have an interest of seeing the various poultry and ranch animals as well. Farm stays have been designed to enable the tourists achieve that particular objective. In essence tourists experience a whole range of products on such farms. It provides a refreshing environment for relaxing and camping. Nevertheless, the taste that is enjoyed from the various meals that are served denotes the role of gastronomy in attracting such tourists (Morgan 2012, p. 157). The fact that farm stays serves tourists both directly and indirectly is very important to the tourism sector. The farmers discovered the interests of many tourists in line with associating with farm produce and the overall environment and this is why such are making a lot of revenue from these tourists. My visit to the farm stay for a number of days opened up my understanding in relation to gastronomy and tourism. Based on that, it is appropriate to appreciate that the application of gastronomy can indeed be very diverse. The selection, preparation and serving of people with different cuisines can be done anywhere. When tourists visit their country of choice, none of them would prefer to spend all their time in guest rooms (McKeeman 2003, p. 42). Such realization is what has given rise to the discoveries that have facilitated tourists visiting farm stays. Under normal circumstance, tourists usually spend most of their time away from guest houses. They only go their guest rooms to sleep. Gastronomy is therefore best applied in the settings likened to farm stays. Many of the tourists desire to experience the nature of foods that form part of the Australian culture. With this kind of information, farm stays ought to be continually upgraded in order to meet the required tourist standards (DeBarbieri 2009, p. 52). The managers and farmers in such sites ought to work extra-hard to widen the product base in order to increase tourist satisfaction. This will include improving the ease of moving such farm stays. Therefore, they must ensure logistic is in place to allow tourists to easily move in the farm. At the same time, the hygienic standards should not be compromised at all. Conclusion This report has provided a lot of details regarding the relationship between gastronomy and tourism. It is clear that indeed a focus on gastronomy can be used as a very significant tool for enhancing tourism not only in Australia, but all over the world. The examples of the sites that were visited provide a clear view of how gastronomy is related to tourism. The sites that have been highlighted are known for attracting a large number of customers on annual basis. The government can therefore use such sites to ensure that it has the capacity to continually appeal to tourists from various parts of the world. More gastronomes ought to be trained to ensure that various foods are prepared for different kinds of consumers including tourists. References Andrée, P; Dibden, J; Higgins, V. & Cocklin, C 2010, Competitive Productivism and Australia's Emerging 'Alternative' Agri-food Networks: producing for farmers' markets in Victoria and beyond, Australian Geographer, Vol. 41 Issue 3, p307-322. DeBarbieri, L 2009,Down on the Farm Stay, The Environmental Magazine, Vol. 20 Issue 1, p52-52. McGhee, K 2009, Shop for the future, Australian Geographic, Issue 95, p112-117. McKeeman, J 2003, Best Practices: The Top Farm Stays?National Geographic Traveler, Vol. 20 Issue 4, p42. Morgan, L 2012, Diplomatic Gastronomy: Style and Power at the Table, Food & Food ways: History & Culture of Human Nourishment, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p146-166. Read More