Food tourism and travel the close relationship between food and tourism and which unprecedented growth and popularisation in tourism has witnessed in the more recent years. Some tourists indulge in unique culinary experiences in foreign countries while some tourists travel purposefully or get a glimpse of a culture that is different than anything saw before by tourists. Food tourism has been a growing trend as national cuisine and food culture and as an artistic expression of the local culture. Food tourism is about much more than just enjoying the best meal, a glass of local drink, beer or wine during a trip.

1. FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
By Ali Koray Ozguclu
08 September 2020

2. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
i
Table of Contents
Table of Content.................................................................................................................... i
The List of Figure and Tables................................................................................................ ii
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 1
1. Defining Food Tourism and Travel ................................................................................ 2
2. The Importance of Food Tourism and Travel................................................................. 3
3. The Impact of Food Tourism and Travel ........................................................................ 4
4. Activities of Food Tourism and Travel............................................................................ 6
5. Sample of Food Tourism and Travel in the World ........................................................ 7
6. Food Tourism and Travel in Sydney ............................................................................... 8
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 11
Reference List ............................................................................................................................. 12

3. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
ii
The List of Figure and Tables
Figure 1: Food Tourism Value Chain ................................................................................... 5
Table 1: International Market Food Traveller to NSW ........................................................ 8
Table2: International Market Food Traveller Visit Top Places in NSW................................ 9
Table 3: International Market Food Traveller Type of Food Experience in NSW................ 9

4. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
1
INTRODUCTION
Food tourism and travel the close relationship between food and tourism and which
unprecedented growth and popularisation in tourism has witnessed in the more recent
years. Some tourists indulge in unique culinary experiences in foreign countries while
some tourists travel purposefully or get a glimpse of a culture that is different than
anything saw before by tourists. Food tourism has been a growing trend as national cuisine
and food culture and as an artistic expression of the local culture. Food tourism is about
much more than just enjoying the best meal, a glass of local drink, beer or wine during a
trip. This is a way of immersing ourselves into the culture and heritage of a region, making
the experience memorable in a completely unique and personal way (Ellis, Park, Kim &
Yeoman 2018, p. 250). We can summarize the food tourism as taste of a place. This
information report demonstrates the contribution and development and importance of
the food tourism industry to country or city economies.

5. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
2
1. Defining Food Tourism and Travel
Food Travel and Tourism is the act of traveling for a taste of place in order to get a sense of place
and which is related to all activities that use food as a means of connection between people, places
and time (World Food Travel Association 2020). Food tourism is about dining adventurously and
learning about new cultures along the way. Meanwhile, food tourism is every experience in which
one not only consumes authentic local food but also appreciates, explores, and learns about local
culture. So, food tourism expresses culture, authenticity, destination orientation, marketing, and
advertising of somewhere.
Food producers, food festivals, restaurants, and places that have the characteristics of
food tasting and specialist food-producing regions are motivating factors for food travel.
In other words, we can say that food tourism is traveling to other destinations to consume
foods belonging to different cultures and to learn about the culinary culture. Food tourism
and travel can come under different names and these are concepts such as gastronomy
tourism and culinary tourism (Ellis, Park, Kim & Yeoman 2018, p.250).
Actually, the topic of food tourism is not new. Food tourism and studies of this topic in
recent years have revealed the importance of this tourism sector. Major international
publications such as the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's (2012) Global
Report on Food Tourism, and popular academic books such as Food Tourism around the
World (Hall, Sharples, Michell, Macionis & Cambourne 2003, n.p.), Foodies and Food
Tourism (Getz, Robinson, Andersson & Vujicic 2014), and The Future of Food Tourism
(Yeoman et al. 2015) further importance illustrate this industry and point. According to

6. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
3
the World Food Travel Association, the evolution of Food Tourism are consist of 3 stages.
These are (World Food Travel Association 2020);
• 2001-2012; In the beginning, food tourism defined as “The pursuit and enjoyment
of unique and far and near.” (Erik Wolf, Executive Director, Culinary Tourism: A
Tasty Economic Proposition 2001). This was our industry’s first white paper that
explained what food tourism is and how it can benefit industry stakeholders. Food
experiences were not monetized as a tourism activity.
• 2012-2018; Food tourism began to catch on as a mainstream interest, with the help
and exposure from social media and television shows. Food tourism now includes
the full range of experiences like cooking classes, producer visits, street food, local
pubs, touring rustic wineries or diving into kind of restaurants. By this time, there
was something for everyone in the food tourism and travel industry.
• 2018- Present; Food has finally become a main motivation for travellers when
choosing a destination. Travellers began to spend more time and money on unique
food and beverage experiences. Food tour companies were global increase in the
marketing, food and beverage focused events and food and beverage experience
focused marketing efforts. Food tourism is finally mainstream.
2. The Importance of Food Tourism and Travel
Food Tourism is central to modern tourism and directly contributes to a country’s
hospitality industry and economy. It is important from the country and culture’s
perspective to develop their food culture in order to support the growing trend of
culinary tourism (Tan 2020).

7. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
4
Tourists with different cultural backgrounds eat different types of food but that is not
all. In most cases, certain dishes become symbols of their home country. For example,
tourists always associate pizza and pasta in Italy, baklava, delight, and döner with
Turkey, noodles with Japan, butter chicken and curry with India, and etc. Even tourists
who never visited these countries know that and local food plays an increasingly
important role when it comes to choosing your holiday destination. However, food
tourism is not just about what we eat. It is also about how eat by tourists, where, with
whom, and why. Driven by the growing trends of authenticity, motivation and
curiosity, food has become a significant aspect of a tourist’s experience of a destination
(Boniface 2016; Tan 2020).
3. The Impact of Food Tourism and Travel
Food tourism and travel is to educate and inspire food and wine enthusiasts while giving
the traveller a chance to explore the local area and learn about local food trends, culture,
cooking techniques and food background. Travellers can do so by participating in a cultural
immersion experience at select destinations around the globe. For all businesses linked to
food tourism, culture, culinary and gastronomy, this could not be a better opportunity for
those wanting to move forward, gain greater visibility, and attract more customers. Food-
related posts on social media is one of the most engaging and trendy categories on the
internet. A lot of national tourist boards, tour operators, and hotels acknowledge this and
use this in their content strategies (Coppola 2016).
Recent few years, tourists have become more interested in where their food comes from.
Some of food tourism supplier operators are already using this trend to their advantage

8. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
5
by catering to this food tourism traveller. This is reasonable to expect that more people
will become interested in this branch of food tourism and that this will be a driving force
of growth for years to come. Developed countries, such as, the United States of America,
Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Italy are already witnessing an
increasing number of travellers, mainly because of the growth of their food tourism
market. In addition, according to the Global Report on Food Tourism by the World Tourism
Organization, the average tourist spends around a third of their holiday budget on food
(World Tourism Organization 2012).
The food and beverage tourism industry provides an economic added value to
stakeholders in many industries. For example; restaurants, hospitality businesses, tour
operators, farmers, government, media, transportation (World Food Travel Association
2020).
Figure 1: Food Tourism Value Chain (World Food Travel Association 2020)

9. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
6
Food tourism also creates an economic impact on countries. As seen above in Figure 1,
this effect creates economic value for producers at every step from production to
consumption. These economic values also contribute to the producers who come after
them, and as a result, the value chain formed by the food tourism market. For instance;
the transformation of agricultural product milk into a food tourism product in which the
production process and culture are explained to food traveller (World Food Travel
Association 2020).
4. Activities of Food Tourism and Travel
Food Tourism and travel has included a wide range of activities related to cooking, food
sampling, food trends, wine making and baking. In addition to restaurant weeks in
different cities, dining events and cooking competitions, culinary tourism encompasses
culinary experiences, such as; winery and brewery tours, tours of restaurants and food
manufacturing plants, conferences and events with culinary professionals and cookbook
authors, and ethnic food tastings. Some destinations offer culinary tours and specialty
dining experiences, where travellers visit various restaurants, cafes and bistros, meet with
chefs and take part in food seminars or events (Tan 2020).
Food tourism is much more than a list of restaurants and is not only related to high cost
activities with gourmet perception and which is also not focused only on agritourism. Food
tourism and travel is related to all activities that use food as a means of connection
between people, places, and time (Getz, Robinson, Andersson & Vujicic 2014). Some of
examples of activities considered as Food Tourism: take a street food tour, tasting of local
dishes and beverages, eat at traditional restaurants, participate in gastronomic events and

10. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
7
festivals, visit local markets, learn about the production of food by visiting farms and
artisan producers, participate in cooking classes, visit exhibitions that explain the history
of local cuisine (Food and Road 2020).
5. Sample of Food Tourism and Travel in the World
Every country and even the cities and regions within it can have a unique culture. Food
culture can also find a place among these cultural varieties. Because food culture actually
reflects the historical past of a country. The deeper a country's history is, the richer its food
culture or the more a country hosts a multicultural society, we can say the same thing
(Boniface 2016). For example; Turkish cuisine has been a deep cultural value which is
known that the foundations of today is Turkish cuisine comes from the Ottoman Palace
cuisine (turkishcuisine.org). Another example is that Australia is a multicultural society
that makes the country has multicultural food culture and that hosts the culture and food
cultures of the societies living in the country along with its own food culture.
Every country has iconic foods and these foods make food travellers come to these
countries. If we give a few example of iconic foods with countries (Taste Atlas 2020);
• Turkey; Döner, grilled meat on skewers (kebabs), baklava, Turkish delight
• Italy; Pizza, pasta, lasagne
• Singapore; Chili crab
• Japan; Sushi, Ramen Soup
• Austria; Wiener Schnitzel
• China; Peking Duck, dumplings

11. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
8
• India; Biryani, Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori Chicken, Curry
• England; Fish & Chips
• Mexico; Taco, Burrito
6. Food Tourism and Travel in Sydney
Sydney has flourishing culinary scene is both steeped in tradition and infused with creative
twists. Which helps somewhat demystify the health of the Sydney food tourism and travel
industry. Food tourism is ultimately about enjoying tourism experiences that involve
eating or learning about food and drink in a way that connects you with the identity of a
country, region or place. In Sydney, food tourism takes place in a myriad of settings. It
happens out of businesses such as food trucks, street vendors, chocolatiers and breweries.
Locals and tourists travel streets, suburbs and beyond to participate in it (NSW Food and
Wine Tourism Strategy and Action Plan 2018).
Table 1: International Market Food Traveller to NSW (NSW Government Food Tourism in NSW 2018)
In this study, it has been analysed in 2018 data since statistical data and research on this
subject have not been reached in recent years. According to data from the food tourism

12. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
9
survey conducted by the NSW government in 2018, 16.3 million people came to Australia
for food tourism. In addition, 4.9 million people came to state of NSW.
Table 2: International Market Food Traveller Visit Top Places in NSW
(NSW Government Food Tourism in NSW 2018)
According to table 1 Mainland China (16.2%) was the largest source market of international
NSW food travellers. The USA (12.8%) was the second largest, followed by New Zealand
(8.8%) and also refer to table 2, international food travellers mostly preferred to travel to
Sydney in NSW (94,9 %).
Table 3: International Market Food Traveller Type of Food Experience in NSW
(NSW Government Food Tourism in NSW 2018)
According to table 3, fine dining restaurants’ (56.2%) was the most popular food
experience by international NSW food travellers. ‘Fine dining restaurants’ was also the
most popular food experience in Sydney (58.3%), while ‘local food markets’ (50.7%) was
the most popular in regional NSW. In this report on food tourism made by the NSW
government, in the international market, Sydney become a popular destination for food

13. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
10
tourism and travel compared to other cities. Refers from the numbers in the tables which
say that the city of Sydney has become iconic and unique for both culture and food tourism
travellers for Australia.

14. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
11
CONCLUSION
Food tourism is to educate and inspire food and wine enthusiasts while giving the traveller
a chance to explore the local area and learn about local food trends, cooking techniques
and food history. Travellers can do so by participating in a cultural immersion experience
at select destinations around the globe (Boniface 2016). According to the World Tourism
and Travel Association (2020), food tourism is growing exponentially every year. With the
steady increase in interest of food channels, travel shows featuring local and regional
cuisine, food documentaries and online culinary travel shows, more consumers are
traveling to various destinations just to enjoy a new food and wine experience.
Food defines the cuisine of a place and food is used in many forms and interactions from
a tourism perspective in a place. As food represents traditions, stories and symbols, the
tourist who interacts and creates an experience through performance, enquiry and
engagement. Thus, food tourism is a presentation of history and place (Getz, Robinson,
Andersson & Vujicic 2014). Food is genuinely grounded on the experience economy, and
co-creation of value is inherent based on how place and associated food are selected and
consumed. Therefore, the food tourism is a cultural anthropology concept. Food tourism
will ensure the sustainability of the country's food cultures as well as the development of
the country's economies (Ellis, Park, Kim & Yeoman 2018, p.250).

15. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
12
Reference List
Boniface, P 2016, Tasting tourism: Travelling for food and drink, eBook, viewed 25 August
2020, Tafe Nsw Library Network.
Coppola, ME 2016, Food, tourism, and culture: the keys to success of a global trend,
viewed 25 August 2020, <https://www.trekksoft.com/en/blog/food-tourism-
culture-keys-success-global-trend>.
Ellis, A, Park, E, Sangkyun, K & Yeoman, I 2018, “What is Food Tourism”, in C Hsu (ed.),
Tourism management, Elsevier, Netherlands, pp. 250-263.
Getz, D, Robinson, R, Andersson, T & Vujicic, S 2014, Foodies and Food Tourism, eBook,
viewed 25 August 2020, Tafe Nsw Library Network.
Hall, MC, Sharples, L, Michell, R, Macionis, N & Cambourne, B 2003, Food tourism around
the world, eBook, viewed 25 August 2020,
<http://shora.tabriz.ir/Uploads/83/cms/user/File/657/E_Book/Tourism/Food
%20Tourism.pdf>.
NSW Government and Destination NSW 2018, NSW food and wine tourism strategy and
action plan (2018-2022), Sydney, viewed 28 August 2020
<https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/nsw-
food-and-wine-tourism-strategy-and-action-plan-2018-2022.pdf>.
Yeoman, I, McMahon-Beattie, U, Fields, K, Albrecht, J & Meethan, K 2015, The future of
food tourism, Channel View Publications, Bristol.
What is food tourism 2020, World Food Travel Association, viewed 26 August 2020,
<https://worldfoodtravel.org/what-is-food-tourism/>.

16. ALI KORAY OZGUCLU
FOOD TRAVEL & TOURISM
13
Tan, D 2020, Culinary Tourism, Now Trending, Le Cordon Bleu International Education,
viewed 26 August 2020, <https://www.cordonbleu.edu/news/culinary-
tourism/en>.
After all what is food tourism 2020, Food and Road, viewed 28 August 2020,
<https://foodandroad.com/pro/food-tourism/>.
Top 100 most popular foods in the world 2020, Taste Atlas, viewed 01 September 2020,
<https://www.tasteatlas.com/100-most-popular-foods-in-the-world>.