Step 3: Powerful Products; How Destinations Can Woo Food-Loving Travelers
Welcome to my new 10 step series about what destination marketing organizations need to do to develop a strategy to woo food- and beverage-loving travelers. This is an excerpt from our full report which you can download here.
“We’ve got 200 cuisines” is not a trait that you should market. Nor is a list of restaurants. Yes, visitors eat in restaurants, but actually, not always. More importantly, visitors need experiences worth remembering. We have always said, that businesses should serve a memory, and not a meal. As a destination marketer, you need to think the same way. You’re not selling hotel rooms or convention space, you’re selling memories!
Some destinations have this part worked out already, but surprisingly, many still don’t. Offering dinner or breakfast packaged with a hotel room is not food tourism! What types of things do food-loving visitors buy? Here’s a short list:
- Food/beverage guided tours
- Food/beverage factory tours
- Beer/wine/distilled spirits/cider tasting room visits
- Driving a wine or distilled spirits trail
- Cooking classes
- Lodging
- Dining out in restaurants, cafes, bars, pubs and food carts
- Purchasing food/beverage souvenirs in a retail store
Don’t’ forget that your area’s people can be considered products too! Every storyteller, quirky character, hero or performer is someone who visitors want to meet.
How do you find out which of the above resources your area has to sell? You need to create an asset inventory. You can map your asset inventory to Google Maps to see where your assets are and then “connect the dots” to see where packaging opportunities exist.
What else do you think could be done to drive commitment from the local area’s stakeholders? Write your comments below OR reach out to me via Twitter or email.
