 This month I toured around several countries in Europe, along with Association President Erik Wolf. We evaluated the culinary tourism markets in Ireland, Wales and Belgium and met with various leaders in the tourism industries in those countries. Here are some notes and updates from the journey...
IRELAND
Ireland is home to Guinness stout and whisky. I love this quote I heard during the tour at the Guinness brewery:
Guinness is enjoyed in 150 countries in the world, and is a beverage that crosses all political and religious boundaries.
Food and drink for world peace - now there's an idea!
Did you know that monks brought the Alambic still in the Middle Ages from the Middle East to Ireland? Over time, the Irish monks figured out how to distill whisky. Don't tell a Scotsman that whisky first came from Ireland - you might be in for something more than a few choice words!
Despite my best efforts, it seemed hard to find authentic Irish cuisine, apart from the hearty Irish breakfast of course. There was, however, a wide array of international cuisines including Mexican, Italian and Chinese, perhaps reflecting the local residents’ desires to enjoy many international flavors. The Guinness brewery tour is a must do, as is the Jamieson Whisky tour. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit the Cork Butter Museum, an Association member, although we've heard it's worth the trip.
Both in Dublin and the countryside, "good" food seemed hard to find and exceedingly expensive (even by European standards), although we were very impressed with the fresh yogurt with berry coulis - enough for two - at Avoca Cafe in Dublin.
The only culinary tourism guide we could find produced by a tourism office was the County Wicklow Good Food Guide, which was very well done. Plenty of privately published food guidebooks are available as well. I did run across one of the main problems with printed guidebooks during my travels - as many of you have likely also experienced - the information is outdated as soon as it is printed. In fact, I went to one restaurant in the Wicklow County Good Food Guide, only to find that it had new owners, a new name, and a new cuisine. I hadn't planned on enjoying an Italian meal in rural Ireland but I was faced with that due to the changeover. Thankfully, it was good Italian food.
It is my impression that the Irish tourism and food/beverage industries are looking forward to learning more about what they can do to more fully embrace culinary tourism and pursuing further advancement in this area.
For more information about traveling to and around Ireland, please see www.tourismireland.com.
WALES
Wales is home to Welsh mountain lamb and Black Mountain Beef to name but a few of its many culinary delights. Other hidden Welsh gems include cheeses, liqueurs, whisky and other native foods. Welsh agricultural producers and manufacturers generally only produce small quantities, leaving little or no extra product to export. This gives a valuable cachet that the excellent Welsh products can only be enjoyed in situ, in Wales, thereby whetting a tourist's appetite to actually travel to Wales.
The Welsh Assembly Government has produced some excellent collateral that promote Welsh produce and products and their use to the trade. Ironically, at this summer's Cardiff International Food Festival, food and drink -and music- from other countries were prominently featured, much to my surprise. While Welsh producers were fairly represented, I would have expected a celebration of, and focus on, our Welsh producers. Perhaps the fact that the Festival was oriented to locals is the reason for the focus on non-Welsh food and drink. It seems that pride in Welsh food and drink is somewhat limited and could benefit from a heightened campaign to encourage more foodservice establishments to use Welsh ingredients, thereby increasing the appeal and "sexiness" of Welsh ingredients. It seems that the Welsh Assembly Government has recognized that, hence their excellent set of culinary tourism "toolkits" (download link below).
 Service is an issue in many places in the world, and regrettably, our mystery shopper experience in Wales revealed that service ranged from good to non-existent (to the point where either no one came to the table (twice) or we had to track down a waiter ourselves (three times). Often restaurants themselves were hard to find. In such cases, a call to the venue could normally not elicit proper driving directions. Either staff had to refer to someone who knew the road system or the person answering the phone could not speak English well enough to answer the question. This is perhaps a reflection of the new wave of immigrants into Western Europe, many of whom do not yet speak good English. Many countries depend heavily on immigrant labor to staff front-line staff positions. From a traveler's perspective, this may affect the authenticity and expectations regarding the destination. There seems to be an opportunity for server and menu education in Wales as well. On more than one occasion, the content and prices on the menus posted outside did not match the menu inside. And on a further occasion more than a couple servers could not explain the dish in question. Bilingual English-Welsh menus, where available, did add an additional level of authenticity and charm. There seems to be a considerable opportunity to improve communication between food/beverage partners and the tourism industry to the benefit of all visitors and residents.
A formal mystery shopping program, perhaps combined with a destination culinary tourism assessment, could help Wales identify its areas in need of attention and plot a sustainable culinary tourism development and marketing path.
Download the 7 Welsh culinary tourism toolkits here:
http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/tourism/688757/?lang=en (ICTA members can download these from our BrainFood library as well.)
BELGIUM
Belgium is the home of two very basic food groups: chocolate and beer, and Belgian producers make some of the finest examples of each. We should all be sure to sample Belgian chocolate and beer as much as possible. One twist you may not expect in Belgian beers is the availability of excellent fruit flavors. On a recent trip, I tried cherry (kriek) and apple and look forward to trying peach and raspberry flavored beer next time. The fruit flavored beers are made with real fruit juice and the brewers say that no additional sugar is added. That said, I still preferred the sweeter cherry beers, as the drier ones seemed, well, quite dry.
One delightful trait of Belgian restaurants: servers do not hurry you to finish your meal. So if you're in a hurry be sure to let your server know. One caveat: don't bring home pre-boxed speculoos (caramelized spice cookies) as they likely won't still be fresh the time you get home. Ask the biscuiterie (cookie store) to make up a special box of freshly baked speculoos cookies just for you.
Perhaps due to its bilingualism or the fact that it is a small country, the Belgians I met were quite hospitable and used to helping visitors find their way or help translate the menu. We did notice that Belgian restaurants do not seem to offer many vegetarian options. Of course there are the omnipresent friteries (French fry shops) but it did not seem that the very tasty fries were cooked in vegetable oil (perhaps why they were so tasty, but unfortunately, not heart-friendly). Be sure to try the poivre (black pepper) sauce or curry mayonnaise on top of your fries.
The Belgian tourist office does produce collateral on Belgian beer and chocolate. Yet separate tourist offices for the Flemish and French parts of the country that don't always seem to collaborate on marketing, which presents a challenge from a visitor's perspective. Culinary tourists might be led towards culinary (and other) resources in one of two halves of the country, which would be a true shame, as culinary resources are found throughout the entire country.
Belgium can seem off the beaten path. Many travelers to Europe choose to visit Paris, London or Florence first when coming to Europe for their first, second or third trips. Belgium unfortunately often falls farther down on their lists. Perhaps this is one reason why Belgium is an excellent culinary tourism destination-the fact that its culinary resources are "out of sight, out of mind, but certainly not forgotten." Belgians love food. It is part of their culture. Belgian producers and consumers seem to inherently understand the value of food and drink as attractions. Yet Belgium is a small country with lots of competition so it must work harder to lure those culinary travelers. The product development has been done, but there is a significant opportunity of further market Belgium's food, beverage and tourism partners to the world's unknowing foodies.
For more information about culinary tourism in Belgium, please see www.visitbelgium.com. For beer tourism in particular, see www.visitbelgium.com/beer.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Garry Taylor, Director, European Development
Garry grew up in the green valleys of South Wales in the United Kingdom. He has been involved in both retail and education capacities working as a team member, developing business relationships and providing seminars within the UK. His interests in the psychology of people lead him to his Honours Degree at the University Of Wales College Of Medicine. Following completion of his degree Garry provided educational seminars for young adults on health, nutrition and the societal impact of food in general. Read more... |
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