WINE AND FOOD TOURISM

Wine and Food Tourism

Wine and Food Tourism

Introduction

Wine and Food Tourism is a name given to an industry, when tourist of the foreign countries may visit the country, and enjoy wine and food experiences, which is unique to them.

Wine and Food tourism have witnessed a significant growth in the recent past. It has open gates for development. However, there are many areas in the world, where food and wine tourism has a great potential to become quality places. The government needs to take initiatives and solve the problem. This paper examines the development of wine and food tourism in Australia. It also focuses on the issues wine and food industry faces. The important aspect to realize is the fact Australia has a great potential to be a great touring place for Wine and Food industry. We will discuss the opportunities and see how Australia can develop this industry.

Overview of the Industry

The key food and beverage category of Australia includeds dairy, meet, grains, seafood and beverages including wine. There is a vast variety of distribution channel available to the consumers of food and beverages. The important factor behind the success of this industry of Australia is the fact that the industry keep on coming up with new and innovative ideas according to the likes and dislikes of consumers.

This industry is a major revenue generation sector of Australian economy. It provides a significant contribution to the economy in terms of finance and employment oppurtunities. The sales of the industry exceeded over A$70 Billion in 2005-06, accounting for 18 % of manufacturing employment. The industry includes multiples players with large consumer goods multinationals to smaller players.

Although the industry has been performing impressively, but it is a very powerful one as it is driven by high quality service and diversity. The exports from the industry also increased to A$ 23 billion in 2006-07.

Every region of the world offers something different for its visitors, as they could enjoy various types of food and high quality available in those countries, when they visit them. It has become a substantial motivating factor for visitors to look for high quality food and wine in the country they visit. In the last few years, there has been an unprecedented interest in the marketing and development of wine and culinary tourism, both overseas and in Australia.

Wine and culinary tourism, particularly with a regional flavor, is becoming leading business in Australia. Indeed, a number of Australian States and regions have placed strong emphasis on the development of the food and wine product.

Despite the increasing recognition, of the role of wine and food in attracting visitors and the often quoted synergy and complementary nature of wine and tourism sectors. There has been little specific focus on wine, food and tourism linkages and opportunities. Wine tourism, for example, is often viewed only from the perspective of cellar door visitation and tasting (Telfer, D.J. and Wall, G, 1996, ...