Written for Bristol Bites by Sunday Frush
As a food blogger, Sunday Frush travels all around the world to try out new beverages and dishes and then creates content about it to share with her readers. Most of Sunday’s adventures include visiting different vineyards and trying out wines and creating exotic dishes that are only unique to a specific region.
Food is a vital aspect of cultural experience. That’s why food tourism plays a crucial role in destination marketing. Tourists always plan places to visit, things to do, and where to find the most delectable foods or drinks. That’s why food tourism is one of the ways to attract local and foreign tourists.
This post will cover the reasons why food is the best way to attract tourists. You’ll discover the best marketing methods to attract more local and foreign tourists and learn how food impacts travel decisions.
1. Great Marketing Value
The travel industry is worth $1.2 trillion, a huge percentage of which capitalises on food tourism. For many local and foreign tourists, aside from the beautiful architectural and natural landmarks, a place’s food options provide the utmost satisfaction. That’s why you’ll find a crowd of restaurants, food stalls, and other food establishments in every tourist destination around the world.
Food is a basic need. Incorporating it in your tourism marketing campaigns will surely bring great value, not just to your business but also to the people. Offering a wide array of food options or a great menu, proper food processing, and appealing food labelling can help increase tourism profits in a country.
Here are some great ways of how food is being marketed today to attract more tourists:
• Social Media Marketing: You probably have seen a thousand of the food recipes posted on social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, earning hundreds, thousands, and even millions of likes and shares.
One of the benefits of social media marketing in food tourism is that you can post professionally-taken photos and videos of different food recipes online to reach more people around the world.
• Content Marketing: With content marketing, writers give life to food images and videos by creating valuable content that can be used by readers or viewers when they search for the best places to dine and spend quality time with family and friends with a hearty and delicious meal.
Some examples of content marketing topics include “how-to” articles or tutorials on how to cook an authentic dish and “things to do” in specific tourist destinations.
2. Everybody Needs and Talks About Food
Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, included his observations of the innate curiosity of humans in his 1943 paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation.” It’s used to study how human beings are behaviourally motivated. Maslow classified human needs into “physiological needs,” “safety needs,” “belonging and love,” “esteem,” or “social needs,” and “self-actualisation.”
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes the pattern in which human motivations arise or move. Each stage of the theory of human motivation must be satisfied in order to move to the next stage.
True enough, tourists need to satisfy their physiological needs before they can truly admire the beauty of a place. It’s no wonder why the best places to dine are always included in every tourist’s bucket list.
Here’s how people value and talk about food whenever they travel:
• Tourists are always willing to try eating rare, exotic, or never-tried foods in their travels.
• People tend to watch videos and read online food reviews before dining in a new restaurant to gain insight on how food tastes and the type of service the food establishment provides.
• People tend to take photos of food and beverages, along with friends and family, and post them on social media before eating them.
3. Food Blogs and Vlogs Are Very Popular
Aside from tourism reviews, where you can read the comments of previous customers who tried dining in a restaurant, food blogs and video blogs (vlogs) are very popular, enticing a lot of tourists to try visiting a new place to try their authentic food recipes.
Because consumers can easily access the internet, food blogs have sprouted like mushrooms, giving more life to all-time favourite food recipes and authentic dishes.
Here are some ways how food blogs or vlogs attract tourists:
• Influencer Marketing: Influencers are considered social media icons or superstars because these people have their own fan pages with thousands or millions of followers, waiting for what they have to post online. Influencers earn money by working with advertisers and tourism agencies to attract more tourists by telling their followers directly (verbally) or indirectly (through photos or videos) to try visiting a restaurant or new place because of its delicious dishes.
• Video Marketing: In 2019, over 500 hours of YouTube videos were uploaded every minute. That’s why one of the best ways to promote food tourism is through video marketing. Millions of people watch videos online every day, particularly YouTube videos. Tourists find satisfaction in watching food-related videos because they serve as a guide when they choose their next food destination.
• Content Marketing: As already mentioned, content marketing, in the form of blogs or articles, helps the tourism industry a lot, most especially to promote a place and attract more visitors. By posting and uploading quality and valuable content that readers can relate to, they’re encouraged to visit a place on their next weekends off or holiday.
4. Gateway to History and Cultural Experience
By trying different local and international food recipes and cuisines, one can have an idea of the history and culture of a place. Whether you love Chinese, Korean, or Italian food, you’ll always discover something new that would appeal to your palate when you’re on a travel. Such historical and cultural experience is unique and will forever be remembered.
Here are some examples of authentic cuisines and country destination that appeal to tourists:
China
• Hotpot: It has a broth flavoured with slices of meat and vegetables, along with mushroom, tomatoes, in original or spicy flavour. You can add sauce, like one with peanut butter, chopped onions, and smashed garlic dressed with sesame oil.
• Sichuan Pork: It’s one of the most popular Chinese dishes with poached spicy pork slices. It’s boiled in water with egg-white and starch coating to preserve its tenderness and freshness. The meaty broth is a common Sichuan cuisine that features a spicy and peppery taste.
• Dumplings: This food consists of chopped vegetables and minced meat wrapped in a thin skin of dough. It has a long history of over 1,800 years, and is a traditional food in the northern part of China.
• Kung Pao Chicken: It’s a famous Sichuan-style speciality that’s popular among Chinese and foreigners. It’s made of diced chicken, fried peanuts, and dried chilli, with mashed garlic and sweet and sour sauce added.
United Kingdom
• Fish and Chips: In the UK, fish and chips are amazing. The best ones are offered by fish and chip shops and restaurants, particularly in London.
• Haggis: It’s a traditional Scottish pudding that tastes like a spicy, meaty sausage made of sheep’s heart, lungs, and liver with onions, spices, oatmeal, and some stock.
• Sausages and Mashed Potatoes: These foods make a traditional meal in the country, with cream, cheese, or extra butter normally added to the potatoes for a filling and satisfying meal.
Mexico
• Taco: The origin of the taco is believed to be in the Mexican silver mines or “taco de minero,” which means miner’s tacos – gunpowder wrapped in paper with rock used by miners to excavate the ore. Authentic Mexican tacos are typically made of grilled, stewed, or fried meat. The meat is marinated with cumin, paprika, lime, oregano, onions, and chillies. The cooked meat is seasoned with salt and pepper.
• Chilaquiles: This dish is a popular traditional breakfast in Mexico, featuring lightly fried corn tortillas topped with red or green salsa and often served with frijoles or refried beans.
5. Food Makes a Huge Part of Festivities
In any community event, feast, or local celebration, you’ll always find the best food served on the table. People are proud to cook and prepare their best dishes to impress locals and tourists alike. All around the world, food festivities are very common, and reflect the cultural background of a place.
Here are the most popular food festivals in the world in 2020 that’ll surely drive high tourist traffic:
• Pizzafest in Naples, Italy (29th May to 7th June 2020)
• Oktoberfest in Germany (19th September to 4th October 2020)
• Bacon Festival in Sacramento, California (18th April 2020)
• Salon Du Chocolat in Quito, Ecuador (7th to 9th February 2020)
• Dumpling Festival in Hong Kong (25th June 2020)
• National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan (4th to 11th July 2020)
• Herring Festival in Hvide Sande, Denmark (10th April 2020)
• Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand (16th to 25th October 2020)
• National Street Food Festival in New Delhi, India
• Maslenitsa Pancake Festival in Russia (24th February to 1st March 2020)
Conclusion
Food definitely attracts a lot of tourists to a country because of the rich historical and cultural experience each cuisine provides. Also, food is a physiological need that should be satisfied, so everyone has a soft heart when it comes to food choices.
Marketing campaigns towards food tourism increase people’s awareness about a tourist destination in the form of blogs or vlogs, social media marketing, and other promotional techniques. With food tourism, a place will surely appeal to a lot of tourists from around the world.