Pennsylvania tries to attract culinary tourists

'Twas a time -- say, back in the days of sailing ships -- when to be a "culinary tourist" might have meant that you landed on an island inhabited by cannibals and didn't make it home alive.

But these days, "culinary tourism" is all good -- and one of the hottest trends in travel and food.

Today's culinary tourists are, basically, people who travel to places and try to eat them. You will be hearing more about culinary tourism, even right here in Pittsburgh, as tourism agencies cook up programs and promotions to feed that appetite.

"This seems to be the new 'eco-tourism,' " says Lisa Gensheimer, a documentary producer and travel writer. She lives in North East in Erie County but will eat and drink just about anywhere, whether it be eau de vie at the winery up the road or seafood in Seattle.

She recently started writing, for the social networking site Gather.com, a twice-weekly column about those delicious trips called "The Culinary Tourist."

She calls culinary tourism "a new name for something that people have liked to do for a long time, but didn't really put a name on it."

Culinary tourism was defined as "travel to learn about or enjoy unique and memorable eating-and-drinking experiences" in a survey of 2,364 U.S. leisure travelers released last month by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA).

The study, cosponsored by the National Restaurant Association with Gourmet magazine and the International Culinary Tourism Association, shows this "emerging phenomenon" is "taking hold in the American vocabulary," according to the restaurant group. It noted that one quarter of all leisure travelers say food is central to picking their destination, and that number increases to 51 percent for "culinary travelers" ("those engaging in culinary activities during leisure trips").

Some of what the survey found is no surprise. That most leisure travelers and culinary travelers like trying new restaurants most nights on trips? Well, where else would they eat?

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Source - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


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