Travel to eat; culinary tourism is in fashion

Hello everyone!

We are already in the month of October, which marks the beginning of the gastronomic season in the Puerto Vallarta-Riviera Nayarit region. On the doorstep we have the Vallarta Nayarit Gastronomic event, which will take place from October 12 to 18, followed by the International Gourmet Festival, to be held in November. In the midst of these, we also give an account of other related events, such as the Vinoma Fest, or some unitary events in which local restaurants and chefs participate.

With regard to this, today I want to touch on a topic that I find extremely interesting: culinary tourism, which has become an important factor in the competitiveness of tourist destinations, playing a decisive role in their image and positioning.

Traveling to eat is in vogue and is a great way for tourists to connect with the land, traditions and local people of the places they visit.

In the case of Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit, we are seeing it with the growing number of gastronomy-related activities, as well as top-level restaurants and chefs that have emerged in recent years. Various exit surveys carried out in both destinations show that the two main aspects that visitors enjoy are the hospitality and the gastronomic offer, which makes culinary events one of the most sought after in activity calendars.

This coincides with a study recently published by the online accommodation reservation platform Booking, which indicates that 6 out of 10 travelers in the world (60%) choose a destination because it eats and drinks well. In other words, it is no longer just specialized journalists and foodies who pack their bags to discover restaurants, dishes or products, but there are more and more tourists who travel to some place on the planet attracted by these factors. The same study shows that gastronomic trips are on the rise, to the point that more than a third of international travelers (34%) are thinking of organizing a gastronomic route at some point. Other data indicates that people who travel to get to know the cuisine of a place usually spend between 18 and 20% more than others of the same age and origin.

Such is the importance that is being given to this segment that there are destinations in which strategies based on gamification have even been launched, creating a gastronomic passport that is sealed as the different restaurants are visited.

Everything that I have told you tells us that we are doing the right thing when we focus on promoting this region of the Pacific as a culinary destination, when events like the ones I mentioned at the beginning of this column are organized, because it is no longer enough to just show images of paradisiacal beaches, nature, monuments, shopping sites or party atmosphere, the key to success is to diversify.

Given this, I cannot fail to recognize the great effort that public and private organizations are making in promoting alliances with local producers, chefs, restaurants and hotels, to position Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit among the best culinary destinations in Mexico and the world.

What do you think? Send me your comments.