Tapping the Culinary-Tourism Trend
How to turn a restaurant into a destination for travelers seeking more than a meal.
By Kate Leahy, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/30/2007
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Business and pleasure travelers are valuable clienteles for many restaurants. But the rise of culinary tourism—travel plans based in part or in whole around the question, “Where should we eat?”—creates opportunities for more than high-end or high-profile venues.
Wine-country retreats, eating tours of Thailand, and trips to farms are only part of the culinary-tourism picture. The trend also includes a visitor ordering a lobster roll in Portland, Maine, or enjoying a croissant with fresh marionberry jam in Portland, Ore.
Erik Wolf, founder and president of the International Culinary Tourism Association (ICTA), says there’s a great deal of business to gain if restaurateurs create marketing programs that cater to out-of-town guests. “Culinary travel happens absolutely everywhere,” he explains, with proven revenue potential. A domestic travel study performed in conjunction with the ICTA, the Travel Industry Association of America and Gourmet magazine, found that 17% of leisure travelers engaged in culinary or wine-related activities while traveling in the past three years, a percentage that the ICTA predicts will grow to 59%.
How can restaurants attract these diners? “The most important thing is that the restaurant needs to create a memory, not just a meal. Sometimes a restaurant operator thinks that a guest is only going to visit once. They don’t take into consideration that the patron will talk to people in their local communities about their experience,” Wolf explains.
A restaurant needn’t overhaul its personality to tap the culinary-tourism market: Some simple initiatives can help transform an operation into a destination.
• Promote regional specialties: The misconception is that local customers don’t want regional specialties. But out-of-town guests will choose an establishment that offers local products over a comparable one that does not especially for those items. Wolf suggests menuing one or two regional standards to welcome travelers while still meeting the needs of local clientele. This might be as simple, he notes, as offering Cuban coffee in Miami or a pulled-pork sandwich in Austin, Texas. Like New Orleans’ muffuletta sandwiches, these are regional specialties many travelers seek out.
• Send a message with the menu: A letter from the chef or owner, a statement about local ingredients, a note about the building’s historic features, or a simple recipe are ways to put a regional stamp on a menu. “That goes the extra mile and helps to lure people in,” Wolf says.
• Get help: If you’re a small independent, assistance from public relations or marketing specialists can relieve the burden of promotions. Look for professionals with proven capabilities for organizing local chef cook-offs, for example, and for gaining the attention of local media. Wolf suggests that operators work with lodging groups on packages in advance of popular travel times.
• Take tips from other restaurateurs: Here are a few examples of operators positioning themselves for success with culinary travelers.
In Sarasota, Fla., Michael’s on East ensures a steady flow of events, from open houses in the restaurant’s wine cellar to live music at its piano bar. The first thing visitors to the operation’s Web site see is a season-specific calendar. The site also includes a link to 50 local restaurants through the regional chapter of Dine Originals, an organization supporting region-specific restaurants.
Plymouth, Mass.-based British Beer Company, a seven-unit casual dining chain, worked with their public relations firm to promote tourist-friendly offerings in the local press such as take-out picnics provided at their beach-side Falmouth, Mass., location.
Tapawingo is a destination spot on St. Clair Lake in Ellsworth, Mich. But the fine dining restaurant also participates in culinary tourism on a more-involved level with chef-led tours of Italy coordinated with a travel company
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