This document discusses embedding sustainable culinary tourism in Jordan's national tourism strategy. It argues that culinary tourism should be a key part of the strategy for several reasons: 1) It aligns with shifts in consumer behavior towards health, local food, and community. 2) Sustainable food and beverage practices may become a requirement for tourism destinations. 3) It benefits both the agriculture and tourism sectors. 4) It is in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals. 5) Tourists spend on average 25% of their budget on food and beverages. The document also identifies some gaps such as the narrow scope of many culinary tourism initiatives and the disconnect between tourism marketers and food and beverage professionals. It argues for

2. healthcuisine
THE CASE FOR EMBEDDING SUSTAINABLE CULINARY TOURISM
IN JORDAN'S NATIONAL TOURISM STRATEGY

3. SUSTAINABLE
CULINARY TOURISM
The Case for Embedding Sustainable Culinary Tourism in Jordan's National Tourism Strategy
by Nico Dingemans • ©Hospitality in Health (HIH) • 24.05.2023
The 3rd International Conference on Tourism Management and Heritage Preservation
Queen Rania College for Tourism and Heritage • The Hashemite University

4. 1. STARTER
EDUCATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 5
RATIONALE OF CULINARY TOURISM 6
LITERATURE 14
2. SOUP
GAPS ANALYSIS & SCOPE 16
FOUR CORE VALUES 26
ECO SYSTEM 29
3. MAIN COURSE
THE NARRATIVE 32
ACTIVATIONS 39
4. DESSERT
CALL TO ACTION 44
THE GREAT BOOK, ALWAYS OPEN
AND WHICH WE SHOULD MAKE AN
EFFORT TO READ IS THAT OF NATURE
ANTONI GAUDÍ
TODAY’S MENU

5. Sustainable
Tourism
• Sustainability in Hospitality &
Gastronomy
• Shift in Consumer Behavior
• Ethnology: anthropology of
food and culinary heritage
Eco-System
 SCT Eco-System and stake
holder management
 Global Alignments
 Private Public Partnerships
 Preparation for assignment
Responsible
F&B
 Health Cuisine
 Environment
 Innovation
 Socio-Economic Impact
SCT
Packaging
 Mapping your national/local
Culinary Tourism Supply Chain
 Assignment: Packaging an SCT
product
 Assignment support with
choice of 3 Study Cases
Culinary
Tourism
• Symbiosis of Agriculture,
Tourism, Wellness, Culture
and Cuisine
• Synergies with traditional
tourism products & markets
• Economic Relevance
• Scope & Gaps of SCT
Agriculture
 What hospitality and tourism
professionals need to know
about Food Supply Chains
 Sustainable Agriculture
 Farm to Fork Management
 Test week 1 - 3
Operations
 F&B and Kitchen Operations
 MarCom (seasonality, CSR and
Culinary Storytelling)
 Procurement, Operational
Finance and P&L
 Test week 4 - 6
Q&A
+
Examination
 Q&A 3 study cases
 Examination
 Submit Assignment
MINOR – SUSTAINABLE CULINARY TOURISM (SCT)
Week 1 & 2 Week 3 & 4 Week 5 & 6 Week 7 & 8
Responsible
Food &
Beverage
Health
Cuisine
Environment
Innovation
Socio
Economic
Impact
Culinary
Tourism
Stakeholders
Airlines
Ground
Transport
Travel Agents
Tour
Operators
DMCs & OTAs
Ministries
Tourism
Boards
Associations
Farmers
Growers
Beekeepers
Fishermen
Hotel &
Restaurant
Owners and
Operators
Media
Press
Educators

6. 5 COMPELLING ARGUMENTS
HIH identified a minimum of 5 compelling arguments to adopt
Sustainable Culinary Tourism:
1. BEHAVIORAL: industry leaders and policy makers seek sustainable
tourism solutions that are resilient, future proof, and aligned with
the shift in Consumer Behavior towards health, localization,
immersive experiences and community
2. POLICY: HIH foresees Sustainable F&B will become a destination
compliance criterium for bookers, OTAs, tour operators and
governments
3. BI-SECTORAL: two sectors/value chains benefit structurally and
economically  agriculture + tourism
4. INSTITUTIONAL: The Farm to Fork methodology is in alignment
with UN’s SDGs and UNWTO on Inclusive Tourism
5. ECONOMIC: the three minimum requirements for tourism are
Travel + Lodging + Food & Beverages. 25% is the global average
spend on F&B for travelers and tourists
RATIONALE OF THE MINOR #1

7. In June 2020 HIH published Healthy and Responsible
Menus - Guidance for Chefs & Hoteliers in response to
the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, the shift in Consumer
Behavior post-Covid19, and the acceleration of
sustainability in tourism, hospitality and gastronomy.
The article provides a timely window for chefs, hoteliers,
educators and tourism experts to rise to the occasion by
rethinking responsible gastronomy and prioritize health
on the menu, starting with responsible Food & Beverage
procurement.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
COMPELLING ARGUMENT #1

8. IMPACT ON BOOKING BEHAVIOR OF EU TOURISTS FOR DESTINATIONS SUCH AS JORDAN
#EUGREENDEAL C L I C K H E R E F O R V I D E O #EUFARM2FORK C L I C K H E R E F O R V I D E O
POLICY
COMPELLING ARGUMENT #2
HIH foresees Sustainable F&B will become a destination compliance criterium for bookers, OTAs, tour operators and governments
NO COMPLIANCE = NO BOOKING

9. TWO SECTORS BENEFIT
AGRICULTURE (FROM FARM)
with positive impact on cultural identity, consumer health, food sovereignty, trade, and inclusivity
TOURISM (TO FORK)
COMPELLING ARGUMENT #3

10. ALIGNMENT WITH SDGS
COMPELLING ARGUMENT #4

11. ECONOMIC
TOURISTS
SPEND
25%
ON
F&B
25% = JOD 1.03 BILLION
COMPELLING ARGUMENT #5

12. SYMBIOSIS
Sustainable Culinary Tourism is highly collaborative and
symbiotic; not only creating powerful industry synergies
between agriculture, tourism, culture and education, but
also adding value to traditional tourism products:
 Health & Wellness Tourism
 Heritage & Cultural Tourism
 Eco & Adventure & Sports Tourism
 Religion & Faith & Spiritual Tourism
 Meetings, Incentives, Conferences,
Exhibitions (MICE)
NATIONAL STRATEGY
HIH’ government advocacy includes the adoption of
culinary tourism in the national tourism strategy for leisure
and business segments, and domestic, regional and
international target markets.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
ECO & ADVENTURE
HERITAGE MEETINGS
RATIONALE OF THE MINOR #2

13. Required skillset for Future Leaders
To successfully conceptualize, design, plan and execute a
Sustainable Culinary Tourism Strategy it requires the
hospitality and/or tourism student to apply:
Economics
 Supply Chain Analysis
 Food & Beverage Procurement
 Cost Control and Menu Engineering
 Operational Finance (micro/meso/macro level)
Management
 Stakeholder Management
 Influencing & Interpersonal Skills
 Change & Project Management
 Partnerships Building and
Eco System Coordination
Marketing & Communication
 Mapping & Research
 Conceptualization & Pitching
 Content & Multi-Media Management
 Event & Live-Communications Management
RATIONALE OF THE MINOR #3

14. GASTRONOMY TOURISM SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
LITERATURE

15. © H I H
World Tourism Organization and Basque Culinary Center (2019), Guidelines for the Development of Gastronomy Tourism, UNWTO, Madrid,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284420957
UNWTO INTELLIGENCE

16. GAPS & SCOPE

17. GAPS ANALYSIS
• Gap 1: The scope of Culinary Tourism is often underestimated and limited to food tours, local cuisine, farmers markets, and agritourism elements whereas Food &
Beverage revenues within Restaurants, Hotels, and the MICE Industry are often forgotten or underrepresented. When the scope is too narrow, intelligence data are
incomplete, resulting in miscalculation of performance metrics and socio-economic impact.
• Gap 2: Food & Cuisine is an integral element of tourism, but mainly treated as by-product rather than key product, whereas our research shows that Culinary Tourism is on
the rise globally as an emerging independent tourism pillar with cross-sectoral impact.
• Gap 3: Heritage-based food strategies, often translated into the promotion of solely traditional dishes, are a risk in becoming ‘stuck in tradition’ and can limit culinary
evolution. Another risk is non-distinctive narratives as traditional dishes often originate from a wider regional historical context rather than border-specific country, making
“heritage claims” complex or unreliable. Optimal culinary tourism strategies look at the past, present and future of gastronomy.
• Gap 4: We are witnessing a global rise in initiatives on Responsible Food & Beverage by Chefs and Hospitality professionals who integrate health, innovation, environment
and socio-economic impact with a vision towards future-fit F&B Strategies. The disconnect, however, is that various Culinary Tourism initiatives are driven by tourism
marketeers and not structurally linked to Responsible Food & Beverage. Hence, Culinary Tourism should be led by Food & Beverage professionals, while the role of
marketeers and tourism experts is to market, package, and facilitate.
• Gap 5: Consequential to the narrow scope (1) and disconnect (4), is that many Culinary Tourism initiatives are fragmented. This calls for a collaborative and connective
learning platform demonstrating existing best-practices. This calls for a collaborative and connective Eco System to connect all stakeholders within the Agriculture-to-
Tourism value chain.
• Gap 6: In many destinations, structural short supply chains “From Farm to Fork” between local agriculture and horeca are inadequate or non-existent.
© H I H

18. GAP 1
The scope of Culinary Tourism is often underestimated and limited to
food tours, local cuisine, farmers markets, and agritourism elements.
However, Food & Beverage revenues within Restaurants, Hotels, and the
MICE Industry are often forgotten or underrepresented. When the scope
is too narrow, intelligence data are incomplete, resulting in
miscalculation of performance metrics and socio-economic impact.
© H I H

19. © H I H 2 0 2 3
•Farmers Markets
(Street) Food Tours
Cooking Workshops
Museums & Archeological Sites
From Farm to Fork Dinners in the city
Seasonal Promotions & Food Festivals
Seasonal Agritourism
Harvesting & Farm Visits
Artisanal Producers and HBBs
Foraging Herbs & Edible Flowers
From Farm to Fork Dinners in the field
Sportfishing, diving, coral restoration
Independent Restaurants
Hotel Restaurants & Banqueting
Catering and MICE Industry
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Events
Year-round Agritourism
Wellness Retreats, Spas, Resorts
Grand Culinary Tours across the country
Destination Restaurants in the countryside
SCOPE OF SUSTAINABLE CULINARY TOURISM
FRO M FO RK TO FARM
M I C R O
A C T I V I T I E S
F R A G M E N T E D
M A C R O
A C T I V I T I E S
S T R U C T U R E D
L O W
F R E Q U E N C Y
N I C H E
H I G H
F R E Q U E N C Y
M A I N S T R E A M
URBAN RURAL
FRO M FARM TO FO RK
 sports, rural, mountain, eco & adventure tourism
 community, agriculture, artisanal, SDGs driven
 culture & heritage, faith, city tourism
 cultural and special events driven
 gastronomy, city, business travel, leisure tourism
 culinary arts, supply chain, procurement, CSR driven
 gastronomy, health, wellness, eco & adventure tourism
 lifestyle, campaign driven (winter, spring, summer, fall)
€ € €
€ € € € € € €

20. GAP 2
Food & Cuisine is an integral element of tourism, but mainly treated as
by-product rather than a key product.
However, our research shows that Culinary Tourism is on the rise
globally as an emerging independent tourism pillar with cross-sectoral
impact.
© H I H

21. 25% = JOD 1.03 BILLION
FOOD IS NOT A BY-PRODUCT

22. GAP 3
Heritage-based food strategies (often translated into the promotion of
solely traditional dishes) are a risk in becoming ‘stuck in tradition’ and
can limit culinary evolution. Another risk is non-distinctive narratives
because traditional dishes often originate from a wider
regional/historical context rather than a border-specific country. This
makes “heritage claims” complex.
Optimal culinary tourism strategies look at the past, present and future
of gastronomy  CULINARY EVOLUTION
© H I H

23. The current Food Content is
good, however, it is missing
depth and distinctive
identity.
(photos from 2012 - 2020)

24. F RO M TR A DI TI ON A L C U I SIN E TO A R A B I C F I N E D I N I N G
= CULINARY EVOLUTION
PAST + PRESENT + FUTURE

25. GAP 4
We are witnessing a global rise in initiatives on Responsible Food &
Beverage by Chefs and Hoteliers integrating health, innovation,
environment and socio-economic impact.
However, there is a disconnect between marketeer-driven culinary
tourism initiatives vs. culinarian-driven Responsible Food & Beverage
initiatives. Hence, Culinary Tourism should be led by Food & Beverage
professionals, while the role of marketeers and tourism experts is to
market, package, and facilitate.
© H I H

26. HEALTH CUISINE
 STRENGTHENS IMMUNE SYSTEM
 GOOD-FOR-GUT AND HEART HEALTH
 ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS (EAA’S)
 ESSENTIAL FAT T Y ACIDS (EFA’S)
 MAGNESIUM & POTASSIUM RICH
 IRON AND ZINC RICH
 LOWERS DEFICIENCIES (VAD)
 VITAMINS -RICH
 ANTIBIOTICS -FREE
 DETOXIFYING Responsible
Food &
Beverage
Health
Cuisine
Environment
Innovation
Socio
Economic
Impact
INNOVATION
 REDUCE FOOD WASTE
 CIRCUL ARIT Y
 TRACEABILIT Y
 FOOD INTEGRIT Y
 FUTURE FOOD
 URBAN FARMING
 PROTEIN TRANSITION
 FOOD TECHNOLOGY
 WATER EFFICIENT
 ENERGY EFFICIENT
SOCIO -ECONOMIC IMPACT
 FOOD SECURIT Y
 RURAL DEVELOPMENT
 SHORT SUPPLY CHAIN
 FAIR FOOD/FAIR PRICING
 COMMUNIT Y ENGAGEMENT
 FEMALE & YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS
 LOWERS IMPORT DEPENDENCE
 SLOW FOOD ALIGNED
 HISTORICAL RELEVANCE
 CULTURE & HERITAGE
 FIT FOR SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING
 FIT FOR EXPORT
ENVIRONMENT
 BIODIVERSE & SEASONAL
 SOIL HEALTH & TERROIR
 PERMACULTURE
 ORGANIC FARMING
 FREE FROM GMO
 PESTICIDE REDUCTION
 ANIMAL WELFARE
 CARBON NEUTRAL
 REDUCE PL ASTIC
 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
FROM FARM TO FORK FOUR CORE VALUES

27. HIH FOUR
CORE VALUES

28. GAP 5
Consequential to the narrow scope (1) and disconnect (4), is that many
Culinary Tourism initiatives are fragmented. This calls for a collaborative
and connective Eco System to connect all stakeholders within the
Agriculture-to-Tourism value chain.
© H I H
In many destinations, structural short supply chains “From Farm to Fork”
between local agriculture and horeca are inadequate or non-existent.
GAP 6

29. ECO SYSTEM

30. MAIN PARTNERS
Culinary
Tourism
by HIH
TOs, TAs,
DMCs, OTAs
Airlines,
Airports,
Transporters
Ministries of
Agriculture,
Tourism,
Culture
Educators,
Associations,
Societies,
NGOs
Farmers,
Growers,
Beekeepers,
Fishermen
Chefs, Hotels,
Restaurants,
Rural Cooks,
HBBs
Media and
Trade Shows
ENDORSEMENTS
MEDIA
P U B L I C P R I V A T E P A R T N E R S H I P S
OUR ECO SYSTEM

31. AGRICULTURE & SUPPLIERS TOURISM & CULINARY

32. THE NARRATIVE

33. Jordan is located in the Heart of the
Fertile Crescent, the birthplace of
agriculture, and positioned at the
crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe.
Known as the most hospitable country in
the Arab world, Jordan is truly an
undiscovered culinary gem with an
eclectic food culture and a rich diversity
of seasonal harvests in:
• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Fall
CULTURE O N YO UR P L ATE

34. The most tasteful contrast you will find
on our menus is the reflection of
seasonality with freshly harvested Figs,
Dates, Pomegranate, Grapes, Okra,
Citrus, Eggplant, Mushrooms, Artichoke,
Pulses, Honey, Melons, and Mallow.
Wild Plants, Berries, Sumac, Thyme, and
other Mountain Herbs are still used today
in Traditional Arabic Islamic Medicine
(TAIM).
Local recipes prepared From Farm to Fork
are elevated to contemporary cuisine by
a new generation of talented Chefs,
Farmers, and Producers to preserve and
modernize Jordan’s culinary heritage.
SE ASO NAL HARVESTS

35. Jordan’s food culture can be described as
half-Bedouin half-urban, rooted in the
cuisine of the Levant, a region known in
Arabic as the Bilad Al-Sham that covers
Cyprus, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan,
and parts of southern Turkey.
The layers of Jordan’s culinary identity,
however, run much deeper.
The culinary DNA is influenced by several
major ancient cultures that ruled the
Levant over the past 5.000 years, from the
ancient dynasties of the Canaanites,
Nabateans, Persians, and Mesopotamians,
to the Roman, Umayyad, and Ottoman
empires.
TASTE THE MID D LE E AST

36. Jordan is the land of the shepherds and
where the world’s oldest bread, dating
back 14.000 years, was discovered at an
old Natufian site in the basaltic Black
Desert.
The oldest farm villages of the Near East
(7.200 BC) were found in the outskirts of
Amman.
Archeologists found wine-presses near
Petra built by the Nabateans. Some
sources even suggest that the wine
served to Jesus during the Last Supper
was from Gadara in the north.
L AND O F THE SHEP HERD S

37. Jordan is also home to one
of the world’s oldest types
of olive trees called
“Mehras” and 4.500-year-
old olive oil mills.
Jordan tells the story of the
original superfood, laying
the earliest foundations of
today’s Mediterranean Diet.

38. ARTICLES VIDEOS
www.instagram.com/healthcuisine

39. ACTIVATIONS
© H I H

40. FARM TOUR OCT 2021
OLIVE OIL TASTING SEP 2021
view all videos on link-in-bio instagram.com/healthcuisine

41. CULINARY TOUR
NOV 2022

42. CULINARY TOUR
MAY 2023

43. CALL-TO-ACTION

44. My main recommendation is to embed Sustainable
Culinary Tourism in the National Tourism Strategy of
Jordan in alignment with the global shift in
consumer behavior, CSR targets, SDGs, and
UNWTO’s guidelines for Gastronomy Tourism, and
by bridging the gaps identified by HIH .
This requires additional research, methodizing
intelligence, and an integrated and cross-sectoral
approach with a central role for Food and Culinary
Arts at the intersection of Destination Management,
Agriculture, Culture, and Responsible Tourism.
We invite the academic
community to participate.
CALL TO ACTION #1

45. COFFEE TABLE BOOK
 24 local products
 24 farmers
 24 chefs
 48 signature dishes
 12 governorates
 4 seasons
 248 pages
 Arabic/English
F R O M F A R M T O F O R K I N J O R D A N
VALUES
 Health Cuisine
 Environment
 Innovation
 Socio Economic
Impact
CALL TO ACTION #2
We invite guest writers &
food historians to participate.

46. THANK YOU
instagram.com/healthcuisine