Gastronomic tourism is related to all activities that use food as a means of connecting people, places and time. Tourism is not always associated with sustainable development. Many destinations are struggling with regional and seasonal asymmetries.
Food tourism
can play an important role in preserving local heritage while leveraging existing tourism assets and driving innovation.By increasing visitor demand for local food and beverages, food tourism contributes to the long-term sustainability of local agriculture, food systems, communities and culture. Food travelers want to learn about local cultures and culinary customs. They travel near and far to find authentic food and beverage experiences and products. It outlines a destination development strategy to put a destination on a foodie's map by identifying all food and beverage resources, bringing them together, weighing their value, evaluating market forces, and engaging key stakeholders.
This means that food tourism companies can work together to deliver high-quality, multi-sensory experiences that exceed visitors' expectations. Food tourism experiences have more integrity when they provide flavors of places that are based on the foods of an area. The World Food Travel Association acts to bring these sectors together to form the “food tourism industry cluster”. The result of the study also implies that the local dining experience of the destinations plays a vital role in providing a memorable tourist experience that, in turn, makes the tourist more satisfied and intends to visit it again.
FoodTrex events showcase ideas and case studies that foster innovation and excellence in food and beverage tourism. For them, “traveling for food sounds very basic and banal, almost like cavemen looking for food or looking for food in a grocery store.
