What are Food tourists Doing ?

One of the challenges for all food tourism businesses is not only understanding the consumer, but also finding out what consumers are actually doing. Tourism businesses need to comprehend what consumers are doing before they become tourists, once they are tourists, and when these tourists arrive back home. It is important to remember that being a tourist is only a short-term mind-set change for a consumer.
Since culinary tourism activities include both food and ancillary shopping as an activity, it is valuable to find out where the target consumer shops before they become a tourist. A survey carried out by Rob Jankowski and Erinn Meloche in 20093 for the Ontario Government in Canada found the following answers: • 43% only shop at grocery stores; • 31% shop at farmers’ markets; • 22% shop at wholesale stores; • 15% go to a butcher; • 12% use superstores; • 9% use the local farm shop; • 9% use a bakery; • 9% use a health food store; • 14% other ways of obtaining food. The results on shopping habits will differ with different regions, but this research shows the importance of the farmers’ market in the shopping experience. It does not reflect the surge in online shopping for food nor the ‘Amazon.com’ effect with the introduction of Amazon Fresh in 2013 with 24 h delivery for online shoppers. This is especially important when you realize that 48% of consumers who go to a farm shop in Ontario would consider online shopping with the farm versus only 26% would do the same at a farmers’ market.3 One quote from this report is ‘The farmers’ market can steer people out of the grocery store . . . The farm is seen as a special outing.’ Once a business knows where their target market is shopping before they become tourists, then there is an opportunity to develop a strategy to attract them as food tourists to your business. The tourist shopping experience should add a new value to the tourists’ lives compared with where they go for their weekly shop. In 2006 the Travel Activity and Motivational Study (TAMS)5 was carried out in Canada. This studied the travel habits of travelling Americans and Canadians. The results were as follows: • 57.9% dine at restaurants that feature local foods; • 40.9% go to local cafés; • 20.9% dine at high-end restaurants; • 19.9% dine at restaurants with an international reputation; • 11.5% shop at gourmet/kitchen stores; • 11.5% pay day visits to wineries; • 6.9% attend food and drink festivals; • 4.8% dine at a farm; • 4.4% attend classes at a cooking or wine school. This research indicates how important eating out is in the food tourism experience and many tourist attractions would not survive without providing a ‘food offer’, something we will discuss later in this book.