The Tourism industry is a service based sector with its continuous updating trends. At present people are travelling around the world trying to taste new cuisine. Travelling is becoming one of the most interesting lifetime events for all, not just to a selected age group. Food is linked with many businesses including gastronomy, culture and tourism, creating a greater visibility and reason to attract more consumers.
The World Tourism Organisation in its Global Report on Food Tourism has emphasized that the average tourist spends around a third of his/her holiday budget on food. It is important to identify at which stage this sector is based with a visitor satisfaction in any particular destination. Culinary tourism is closely linked with memorable experiences of learning practices, tasting and appreciating food in rural community areas.
Culinary tourists are not only interested in food based activities but also enjoy the local resources, while improving their knowledge in its history and production. Wine tourism makes greater reminiscences for global visitors through testing wine, discovering its origin, participating in the grape harvest and playing a role as buyers of the product which they helped to make. Social media plays a vital role as the distributing channel in food experiences.
Food events are becoming a popular tourism product among the travelling groups including cookery classes and workshops, as well as food fairs highlighting local products.
Sri Lanka is a popular destination for several factors, such as, historical, cultural, nature, wildlife and other factors. Considering the present day developing trend, Sri Lanka is prospering in culinary tourism as well. Tourists are attracted to many Sri Lankan food including traditional sweets, authentic Sri Lankan beverages, street foods and local specialties, especially, spicy dishes. Tourists are overwhelmed by the amount of nutritious factors found in most of the authentic Sri Lankan food and beverages. However, since, culinary tourism is quite a recent trend many seem to overlook this concept. Therefore, attention on this factor could attract more revenue to the country.
Food safety and sustainability should also be considered by hotels, restaurants and tour agencies. Dining is not the ‘final destination’ for food tourists. There is an increasing tendency for a memorable cooking experience, which creates a need for hotels and tour agencies to expand their culinary tourism to meet the demands of customers and provide a quality food tourism experience.