Food & Tourism
Food is a significant aspect of a visitor’s experience of Scotland. Recent surveys have shown that more than 70% of potential visitors to Scotland want to taste traditional dishes, regional specialities and fresh local produce. Food is an important economic and cultural resource offering tangible benefits for Scottish tourism. However it is essential that we are pro-active in delivering a unique and authentic food experience to an increasingly discerning and health-conscious audience.
The Food & Tourism Team works to bring together the food and tourism sectors in Scotland with a view to:
- Encouraging tourism businesses to deliver authentic and high-quality culinary experiences for visitors.
- Highlighting the role of food and drink producers in tourism and how tourism providers including pubs, cafes and B & B's can all focus on food as a point of difference.
- Getting tourism providers to source locally in order to encourage local employment and economic benefits.
- Raising the profile to visitors of artisan and indigenous food and drink products.
- Maximising the impact of distinctive Scottish products such as whisky, beef and seafood.
- Promoting innovative events and activities such as food festivals and farmers’ markets.
Team achievements to date include:
Industry support to Scottish Enterprise to set up Food Tourism Scotland, an industry facing initiative which aims to maximise the potential for food tourism . It has a dedicated website at http://www.foodtourismscotland.com. This innovative guide and food companion helps businesses taking steps in meeting the demand for local, fresh, seasonal food. The site also assists businesses as they progress and develop by providing information on visitors’ culinary preferences, seasonal foods, and recipe suggestions from top Scottish chefs. It also acts as an ongoing link between the food and tourism sectors.
The Tourism Innovation Group considers that improving the food offered to visitors, particularly by providing Scottish (or better, local) fresh, seasonal produce is an effective way of making the visitor experience better, encouraging sustainability and helping to grow both the food and tourism economies. TiG have led the production of ' A Taste of Events' guide. This guide which has been a team effort, funded by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government and supported by Scotland Food & Drink and Homecoming Scotland aims to encourage the use of quality Scottish Food & Drink at events in Scotland. The first edition was been branded under Homecoming Scotland to take advantage of the wealth of activity across the country in 2009 , but the content is fairly generic and applicable to all events and festivals.
A second edition (non Homecoming branded) has now been developed and is available at http://www.eventscotland.org/assets/1195
The Food team champion is Howard Wilkinson, Petrie Fine Foods.
Links:
www.scottishfoodfortnight.co.uk