Cultural Routes and Heritage Trails - Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues - page 53

Beer trails have developed in other famous brewing regions, such as France
and Germany (Moulin & Boniface, 2001). Aside from wine, beer is a popular
drink and cooking ingredient in the Lorraine region of France. Lorraine's Beer
Route directs drivers along a mapped course between breweries, shops, pubs
and the well-known European Beer Museum (Musée Européen de la Bière) in
Stenay. The Brewery Trail in Bamberg, Germany, similarly encourages tour-
ists to sample famous Bavarian brews from the nine producers within the
town itself and 90 additional breweries in the surrounding vicinity. The
Bavarian tourism promotion office encourages visitors to create their own
beer trails by visiting all, or many, of the 640 breweries (and other attrac-
tions) within the state by bicycle (Bavarian Tourismus Marketing, 2013).
There are other trail types based upon the production and consumption
of alcoholic beverages. Part of Scotland's iconic image is Scotch whiskey. To
play into this image, Scotland's Malt Whiskey Trail was developed as an
important tourist resource to link together the country's several distilleries
(MacLeod, 2004; Martin & McBoyle, 2006). According to the Scottish
Tourist Board (2004: 2), Speyside is the home of malt whiskey, and more
than half of Scotland's distilleries are located there, making it 'the best
Scotland has to offer'. Likewise, Mexico's Ruta de Tequila (Tequila Trail) and
its associated Taquila Express, a tourist train that runs passengers through
tequila country, were established to increase tourism in Tequila and neigh-
boring communities. That the heritage of tequila production and the indus-
trial landscape it created were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006
has helped congeal the international importance of the beverage that has
made this central Mexican region famous. Visitors view the agave landscape,
visit distilleries, eat meals and participate in tequila making (Gonzáles-Ávila,
2011; Gonzalez Huezo, 2008).
Food trails
Like wine routes, food trails have become popular among culinary tour-
ists as important illustrations of gastronomic heritage (Boyne et al. , 2002;
Che, 2009; Corigliano, 2002; Croce & Perri, 2010; Hjalager & Richards,
2002; Meyer-Cech, 2003; Timothy & Ron, 2013). Food routes, or taste
trails as they are sometimes known, usually integrate rural and urban loca-
tions (Beer et al. , 2002) and link a variety of resources that have something
to do with regional cuisine or a single food staple (e.g. fruit). The experience
frequently includes visits to farms, plantations, orchards or ranches to learn
about agricultural production and the process of planting, harvesting and
consumption. Food festivals are an important part of taste trails, and res-
taurants or other food providers that prepare regional specialties are high-
lighted (Canadian Heritage, 2008). These specialized itineraries are
important marketing mechanisms whereby new restaurants can be fea-
tured and older ones renewed. In most cases, taste trails call attention to
traditional heritage cuisines, although in recent years, nouvelle cuisines and