Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Since culinary tourism activities include both food and ancillary shop-
ping as an activity, it is valuable to find out where the target consumer shops
before they become a tourist. A survey carried out by Rob Jankowski and
Erinn Meloche in 2009
3
for the Ontario Government in Canada found the
following answers:
•
43% only shop at grocery stores;
•
31% shop at farmers' markets;
•
22% shop at wholesale stores;
•
15% go to a butcher;
•
12% use superstores;
•
9% use the local farm shop;
•
9% use a bakery;
•
9% use a health food store;
•
14% other ways of obtaining food.
The results on shopping habits will differ with different regions, but
this research shows the importance of the farmers' market in the shop-
ping experience. It does not reflect the surge in online shopping for food
nor the 'Amazon.com' effect with the introduction of Amazon Fresh in
2013 with
24
h delivery for online shoppers. This is especially important
when you realize that 48% of consumers who go to a farm shop in Ontario
would consider online shopping with the farm versus only 26% would do
the same at a farmers' market.
3
One quote from this report is 'The farmers'
market can steer people out of the grocery store . . . The farm is seen as a
special outing.'
Once a business knows where their target market is shopping before
they become tourists, then there is an opportunity to develop a strategy to
attract them as food tourists to your business. The tourist shopping experi-
ence should add a new value to the tourists' lives compared with where they
go for their weekly shop.
In 2006 the Travel Activity and Motivational Study (TAMS)
5
was carried
out in Canada. This studied the travel habits of travelling Americans and
Canadians. The results were as follows:
•
57.9% dine at restaurants that feature local foods;
•
40.9% go to local cafés;
•
20.9% dine at high-end restaurants;
•
19.9% dine at restaurants with an international reputation;
•
11.5% shop at gourmet/kitchen stores;
•
11.5% pay day visits to wineries;
•
6.9% attend food and drink festivals;
•
4.8% dine at a farm;
•
4.4% attend classes at a cooking or wine school.
This research indicates how important eating out is in the food tourism
experience and many tourist attractions would not survive without providing
a 'food offer', something we will discuss later in this topic.
