Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
2
The Changing Tourist
Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens.
Thomas Jefferson
Introduction
Once there was a time when tourists would go to their travel agent, book
a 'package' holiday and spend
2
weeks in the sun at a coastal resort. Those
tourists looked for food that was familiar to them from what they ate back
home. Over time, tourists have become more adventurous and now plan
their own vacations on the Internet and have numerous 'mini' breaks
through the year that may last a few days. This is ideal for the culinary
tourism industry as it allows tourists to spend time in their own local farm-
based tourist areas.
The modern tourist is more demanding, less predictable and more
empowered than the tourist of the past. This is partially due to the power
of social media.
The development of the 'package' holiday in the 1960s and 1970s was
actually one of the early drivers of food tourism. Prior to the advent of the
overseas vacation, consumers were only exposed to foods made available in
their daily life, which came from the local supermarket and grocery store and
occasionally, if they were lucky, a local food market. Populations in many
countries were also less cosmopolitan than they are today and hence exposed
to a lesser variety of foods in their lives. The retailers needed to provide pro-
duce they could sell quickly as 'turnover' of food was critical as shelf life,
due to the lack of developed refrigeration, was short. As a result, the food
offer provided was considered 'safe'. Exotic foods were rarely on offer as the
customer simply did not understand how to prepare or cook them and often
feared what they would taste like.
