STRATFORD — Perth County is well-positioned to become a major player in Ontario’s culinary tourism market.
That was the message March 22 from Professor Stephen Smith, director of the masters of tourism policy and planning program at the University of Waterloo. Smith was the keynote speaker at the second annual Perth County Regional Food Summit in Stratford.
He’s convinced Perth County has everything it needs to make it an attractive destination for travelling “foodies.”
“It’s still at a relatively early stage of development, but it’s got traction and it’s got a really strong foundation,” Smith told the Stratford Gazette newspaper, after his Monday morning presentation at the Arden Park Hotel.
Because Perth County is smaller, and not as diverse — or fractious — as others, Smith said there’s a real sense of community, something that works in our favour.
“It comes out of the fact it’s a fundamentally agricultural, small town community,” he said. “People are used to working together and they know how to talk to each other.”
Networking is essential in creating a successful and vibrant culinary tourism destination. In his presentation, Smith outlined a few things to avoid, including power struggles and turf wars. He pointed to challenges in the Niagara region, where several small hamlets are pitted against each other. Ironically, those small hamlets are united in their fight against Niagara Falls Tourism, which is often viewed as having a monopoly on funding.
Other issues to avoid? Setting low standards, promoting enterprises or experiences that are not yet market ready, promising too much to participants while ignoring costs and challenges, and failing to agree on common goals.
On the flip side, it appears that Perth County has already embraced many of the critical items on Smith’s “to do” list.
Strong leadership is needed, he said, and the group must have a vision and be articulate and trusted — a role that has been taken on by groups like Savour Stratford Perth County and the Stratford Tourism Alliance.
He said an area must be a key origin market, and Perth County’s location makes it attractive to those from London, Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto and the US border states.
There must also be culinary tourism resources distinct to the region. A good example would be Perth County pork.
When it comes to market intelligence, Smith noted, Perth is leading the way with the Stratford Tourism Alliance’s website, which has become a best practices model for others across the country.
Effective destination marketing is a must, as is offering up multiple culinary tourism experiences, he added.
“Culinary tourists are hungry for not only culinary experiences, but for activities and all experiences.”
Culinary tourism is big business. In 2007 in Ontario, $9.8 million was generated from those on “deliberate” culinary trips, while $11.5 million was generated from “accidental or opportunistic” culinary travellers.
And while the market continues to grow, with more municipalities coming on board, it doesn’t mean it will become over saturated.
Every area is its own unique destination, Smith said. Unlike the theatre — where visitors could get their fill after seeing a half dozen plays — food is something with a different appeal.
“Most of us will eat two or three times a day,” he said. “So food is somewhat more of a sustainable type of culinary activity and it’s very much tied in with a sense of place.
“People that are interested in culinary tourism want to do different things and food becomes one of those activities.”
Culinary tourism often leads to touring, with visitors eating their way through one area before heading off to another.
“You can do Wellington, Waterloo, Perth and Huron counties on some sort of loop,” Smith said.
