Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
10
The Future of Food Tourism
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old
dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr
The Golden Opportunity
Food tourism is a growth industry; this does not mean that you can set
up a food trail and be successful. Today's tourist is not like the tourist of
the past. Our parents would go out on a Sunday drive, often not knowing
where they were going; they wanted to explore. Today's tourist wants
a destination, they may make stops on the way, but they need a reason,
a destination and that means the destination has to stand out from the
crowd.
Many consumers look at farmers' markets as one of the key destinations.
Research carried out in January and February 2014 in Australia by Colmar
Brunton Omnibus on behalf of the Australian Farmers Markets Association
1
shows that 14% of shoppers now use farmers' markets to purchase veget-
ables and 4% purchase directly from the farmer.
Many businesses around the world are concerned about their viability, in
the new world order, food tourist ventures around the first world are ideally
situated to take full advantage of the 'trust shift' taking place in society. The
consumer wants to support local businesses who have ideas and solutions
and who appeal to their 'values'. This means food tourism business operators
have to be proactive and build a strong relationship with target consumers.
This is an advantage that regional, national and international businesses will
find increasingly difficult to implement and it gives the local businesses an
extra opportunity.
