Would you travel somewhere just to drink your favourite tipple or taste your
favourite food? Apparently, yes, according to a survey by Expedia.co.uk.
The online and telephone booking travel company asked 20,000 customers if they
had visited selected regions specifically to sample the local produce and
half said yes, they had been to Champagne to drink and buy the bubbly. A
sophisticated one in five even said that they had been to Parma in Italy
just to taste its famous cured ham.
These days, when the best local produce is granted Protected Geographic
Indication status to prevent rivals stealing the name, it's good to know
that British foods are holding their own in the gastro-tourism market.
Just as many people as visited Parma for the ham, headed to Hereford for
cider, Melton Mowbray for pork pies and Whitstable for oysters.
Oliver Rowe, the celebrity chef famous for sourcing all his ingredients from
within the M25, says: “It's really exciting and encouraging to see three UK
destinations coming in the Top 10. Who would have thought pork pies could be
such a people-puller. It's important to take advantage of all the fantastic
ingredients we have on our doorsteps, while at the same time not forgetting
the delicacies that are available to sample when on holiday. Local cuisine
is definitely becoming as important as traditional tourist attractions.”
The survey has to be taken with a pinch of salt, especially as respondents
were given a list of possible gastro destinations instead of being asked to
nominate their own - if any. But even if half the answers are accurate, that
suggests that local food and drink are significant factors when people come
to plan their holidays.
“The research shows that Brits are breaking away from the stereotypical PG
Tips and Marmite food staples while on holiday and becoming more dedicated
to immersing themselves in the homegrown local cuisine,” says Alison Couper
at Expedia.
If you want to follow the gastro tourists, Expedia offers a week at Stars
Reims hotel in the capital of Champagne for £189 with an Air France flight
from Heathrow to Paris on May 20 and car hire from £139. A week's B&B
at the four-star Antico Borgo di Tabiano Castello in Parma is £416 with a BA
flight from Gatwick to Bologna on May 20 and car hire from £144.
Three nights at the Green Dragon Hotel, Hereford, from May 20 costs £90, and
you can enjoy your pork pie in luxury by staying at Stapleford Park Country
House, near Melton Mowbray, for £100 a night.
www.expedia.co.uk - 0871 2260808
