How Visit Experiences Contributed to the Understanding of Gastronomy - Term Paper Example

Name How Visit Experiences Contributed to the Understanding of Gastronomy Course Date     Statement of authorship This statement of authorship covers the following report: Title: How Visit Experiences Contributed to the Understanding of Gastronomy Written by Name: ______________________________________________________ Publication media: __________________________________________________________ Table of Contents How Visit Experiences Contributed to the Understanding of Gastronomy 3 Introduction 3 Cooking schools 3 Wine trails 6 Conclusion 7 How Visit Experiences Contributed to the Understanding of Gastronomy Introduction Tourism is one of the main branches of the modern experience market. In this experience market, food has a very vital role. It not only avails nutrients to the population, but it is also an important element of the culture or cultures that make up the population. It is a main part of worldwide indescribable custom and an ever growing appeal factor for tourists all over the globe. It is true to say that tourism and food avail a stage for the advancement of the local economy which through the use of experiences by tourists in regard to the food can strengthen the economy. Competition among tourist destination is on the rise, the local customs are a priceless source of fresh products that can draw and interest tourists (OECD, 2012). Gastronomy has a very vital function to play in this tourism competition. This is not only because food is essential to the experience a tourist experiences, but it’s also due to the fact that gastronomy has turned out to be a momentous origin of the construction of identity in the current societies. Persons making up a society are increasingly what they take in food wise. This is not only in the physical aspect but also due to the reason that tourists can connect them or their culture with definite forms of food that they came across on their visits. As tourists travel more and more, so does the food they take in. The connection of foods with certain regions though, is facing challenges from the increasing food mobility, cooking styles and the growing de-differentiation of gastronomy. As a result of the tug of war between localization and globalization, deviations in the gastronomic scenery are growing. Foods produced locally and regionally are flourishing in spite of the emergence and presence of global foods. The mobility of gastronomy has been fueled by the wants of foods that tourists have created in their own countries after coming across them in their tours in foreign countries (Richards, 2001). This report discusses the means by which gastronomy can be understood as tourism product by use of site visit experiences. Cooking schools As Rastoin (2012) puts it, gastronomy can be understood as a type of tourism that aims at drinks and foods. He notes that it can take the form of a live-in cooking school. In Hungary, tourists can experience the crucial type of gastronomic tourism by undertaking classes in cooking with persons who have exquisite knowledge on the cooking procedures of certain foods that are a big tourist attraction and that are rooted deeply into the culture of Hungary. As shown in Hungary, cooking schools can be put up in various creative settings that attract a huge number of visitors. This maximizes their overall effect on a large number of persons who amongst them tourists can be found (Rastoin, 2012). One of the creative settings within which cooking schools can be set up is during gastronomic festivals. Such festivals attract a large number of tourists and visitors alike. They are festivals whereby people meet to celebrate food. This celebration of food can be done through cooking schools set up in the festival whereby local and international tourists can be taught how to cook certain cultural and celebrated foods. The cooking schools then provide a platform for the creation of coo king competitions amongst the persons who have been taught how to cook. This forms of competition help in attracting a large number of both local and international tourists who want to learn how to cook the food and participate in the competition. These tourists can then be termed as ambassadors for that type of food and region as the will then communicate to persons in their own countries or regions about the food hence leading up to an increase in the number of tourists visiting the said country or region ( Rastoin, 2012). According to Hall & Sharples (2012) cooking schools specifically designed for tourists increased the number of visits that a popular tourist destination received. Such schools are equipped with translators, entertainers and numerous other cultural gifts that tourists would like to take back home with them apart from learning how to cook a certain type of food. These add-ons that tourists find at cooking schools help in retaining the tourists within that region. They also motivate tourists to explore more within that region and sample all the available food types that are indigenous to the region. Through gastronomic festivals in Hungary, on visiting, there were an increased number of tourists. These festivals take place during the months of May to September which coincided with the two weeks visit on the last two weeks of September. The cooking schools are set up in and during these festivals whereby tourists are taught how to cook. On a visit to Baja, the cooking schools set up during the Fish soup festival were a big tourist attraction that contributed to the overall number of tourists that attended the festival. It is important to note that this fish-soup cooking occasion at Baja is noted in the Guinness Book of Records. This shows that the cooking schools function as a catalyst for the development of tourism. This is due to the reason that, of the many aims a tourist has when visiting a destination, one of the most important of them all is to get to know the type of food that destination offers. The cooking schools in that destination not only offer the tourist that chance, but they also offer the tourist a hands-on experience on how the food that they are most attracted to is prepared while at the same time being a catalyst for the tourist to visit the place again (Hall & Sharples, 2012). Buhalis, Costa & Ford (2012) explain that the existence of cooking schools avails the tourists with a driving factor to tour an area, stay in that area and eat from the food outlets in that area. This was better understood during the visit to the fish soup festival in Baja. The cooking schools made tourists stay much longer so as to learn how to make fish soup. Hence, the main importance of tourism which is its contribution to the economy is met. At the same time, cooking schools give the tourists activities that they can take part in. As shown during the fish soup festival, many tourists liked taking part in the cooking. Cooking is an activity that many persons like to undertake; especially cooking new foods that the tourists have not experienced before or have heard of its attributes back in their country and now have the chance to prepare it themselves and taste it. It gives the tourists a sense of ownership and acceptability into the area that they have toured. This is a promotion to tourism. The cooking schools also improve the image of a destination. This improvement has a double positive effect in that, apart from making the toured areas hospitable, they also make depict them as areas that are inhabited by welcoming and peaceful people who are ready and willing to interact with tourists. Such are the points that make tourists want to visit and revisit a place while at the same time encouraging fellow tourists to visit the area (Buhalis, Costa & Ford, 2012). Cooking schools have well elaborated the role that gastronomy plays in promoting tourism. They have also contributed in the understanding of gastronomy. Through the site visit experience on cooking schools in Hungary, it is understood that gastronomy is a productive ground for ‘inventive tourism’. Tourists want to learn more and more. This want is fulfilled through cooking schools where tourists are able to learn how to cook, know the ingredients utilized and even appreciate how gastronomic customs in that region came into existence (Buhalis, Costa & Ford, 2012). Wine trails Wine is a tangible product that is long-lasting and can be transported. This makes it a product that can be experienced in a number of places before, through the and after the on-site experience of wine. As Novelli (2013) puts it, wine has over the years been part of the tourist experience which is part of the whole hospitality service that is availed to tourists. Tourists are increasingly making decisions on their travel destination due to wine. Wine tourism is a division of food tourism that deals with the touring of vineyards and wine celebrations whereby the tasting of wine and understanding the features of a wine region encourage tourists to tour. After visiting Tuscan hills in central Italy, the desire to experience the wine from Tuscan hills was stimulated. Tuscan hills has undergone transformations in supply, the assessment of the region was that it had improved greatly. Through improvement proposals like the setting up of wine trails, the assessment of the region improved. From the wine trails in Tuscan hills, they showed a gastronomic and wine tourism invention structure through the availing of an easy to get to and attractive produce that was easily identifiable. This means that wine trails meet the reason for tourism that is, experiencing say the wine which had made the tourist tour the region, in this case, Tuscan hills (Novelli, 2013). Wine trails in Tuscan hills incorporated all the distinctive raw resources like wine with all cultural and tourist resources to guarantee that the region has been used in terms of its tourism factors. The trail was a regular link that linked the supply chain of the tourist with the supply organization of the source of the tourist needs. It is important to note that the needs of each individual tourist are varied and connected to the needs of the tourist. Hence, it is important to have a variety of wine types on the wine trail as one type of wine may appeal to one or several tourists but not appeal to another or other tourists. This was shown by the large variety of wine types in Tuscan hills of which many of them appealed to the tourists. Several or many wine trails may not be able to play host to a large number of tourists. However, their capability is greatly enhanced by assessing the needs of each tourist and availing the likes of each tourist as much as possible (Corigliano, 2001). The needs of each tourist are of varying facets of requirements such as sociological whereby cultural and visual ideals express facets connected to the value of life. This is especially true as wine is normally regarded as a product for the well endowed in the society. So, as a tourist wine tasting like that in Tuscany in the wine trail is a major reason for touring a region. Another facet of demand is psychological; this facet is viewed by the tourist as a tour for relieving the stresses of life and as a motivation tool (Touring Club of Italy, 2005). Wine trails provide this facet of demand, each in their own capacity and according to the likes of the tourist. Tourists also look at the value they get for their money. This quality is undisputable in many wine trails as they avail wine products that are of high quality like in Tuscan. When a tourist encounters such high quality wines in the wine trail, he or she feels that they have gotten value for the money spent in the tour. For example, in the Tuscan hills, grapevines grow and the area produces forty protected wines. The region has a well put up network of wine trails where hundreds of producers and eateries avail warm welcomes to tourists (Touring Club of Italy, 2005). Conclusion Tourism results from the ability of a region to meet the needs and demands of the tourist. This is shown on the discussion of wine trails whereby the wine trails have a variety of numerous wine types associated with the region. It can be concluded that these needs and demands mainly incorporate the familiarity of certain sceneries and the environment together with the customs, generosity and heritage of that region. Gastronomy, it can be concluded is incorporated into the many types of tourism. This is because it is virtually impossible for tourist to carry foods from their countries on tour and it is reasonable to taste and sample the foods and drinks such as wine associated with the region they are touring. Also, gastronomy is about creating experiences through cooking schools and wine trails as discussed above. This is essential for tourism to be take place in the modern world.                 Bibliography Buhalis, D., Costa, C. & Ford F 2012, Tourism Business Frontiers, London: Routledge. Corigliano, M. A 2001, The route to quality: Italian gastronomy networks in operation. [Online], Available: hotelmag.siam.edu/file-cabinet-academic/.../48-tourismandgastronomy [20 Oct 2013]. Hall, C. M. M., & Sharples, L, 2012, Food and Wine Festivals and Events Around the World, London: Routledge. Novelli, M 2013, Niche Tourism, New Jersey: Routledge. OECD, 2012, Food and the Tourism Experience: The OECD-Korea Workshop, Busan: OECD Publishing. Richards, G 2001, Gastronomy: an essential ingredient in tourism production and consumption? [Online], Available: hotelmag.siam.edu/file-cabinet-academic/.../48-tourismandgastronomy [20 Oct 2013]. Rastoin, J. L 2012, Traditional Food Production and Rural Sustainable Development: A European Challenge, New York: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Touring Club of Italy, 2005, Authentic Tuscany, Millan: Touring Editore. Read More