Food and Wine Tourism in New Zealand - Essay Example

?Tourism industry is one of the leading industries in the world. Today, due to a reduction in the international barriers and increased accessibility,tourism industry is flourishing by leaps and bounds. From decades, many nations have improved their economy by increased foreign currency earnings from continuously developing and promoting their respective tourism industry. This assessment focuses on “special interest tourism” in a particular country. Every country has its own competitive advantage in terms of tourism; some have natural beauty, while others have delicious food. Moreover, special interest tourism has come into existence due to the increasing demands of the tourist. So, in order to enlighten the importance of Special Interest Tourism, this paper talks about “Food and Wine tourism” in New Zealand. Special interest tourism It is the type of tourism that involves tourist’s holiday choice that is totally inspired and influenced by their specific motivation and desire. There are different forms of special interest tourism, like education, beauty, sports, food, cultural and entertainment (Cook 2007, pp.63). Different countries have different specialties, for example Dubai is famous for its shopping, and New Zealand, Australia, and Turkey are famous for their food. Read defined specific interest tourism as “The travel for people who are going somewhere because they have a particular interest that can be pursued in a particular region or at a particular destination. It is the hub around which the total travel experience is planned and developed”. (Ritchie, Carr, & Cooper 2003, pp. 28) Food and Wine tourism The special interest tourism that has been selected for this paper is “Food and Wine tourism” in New Zealand. The food and wine do not mean mere eating and drinking, but are related to the respective country’s culture and heritage. The other word for food and wine tourism is “Gastronomy” which has gained increased attention in the tourism sector (Costa, 2006). Food tourism Food is an essential component of daily life and therefore of travel for human beings. Therefore, food tourism is defined as “a visit to food festivals, restaurants and specific locations for which food tasting or experiencing the attributes of specialist food production regions are the primary motivating factors for travel.”(Buhalis & Costa, 2006) Food is directly related to a country’s heritage, culture, and traditions. Food is considered to be a major component of tourism, whatsoever is the type of tourism; food always acts as a tourist attraction. So, intentionally or unintentionally, the tourists are always seeking excellent quality food and wine when they are on their holidays. Wine tourism Today, wine is making quite a large business for the last few years. Wine production has been increased at a massive level in different countries like New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Europe, and this has resulted in development of the tourism industry in the respective countries. Moreover, “wine tourism is a subcategory of food tourism, which implies visit for specific high-quality vine to vineries, vineyards and restaurants to a country. The wine tourism also includes visit to the wine festivals in a particular country”. (Buhalis & Costa, 2006) Food and wine tourism does not mean a trip to a restaurant; rather it is the desire to taste and experience a particular type of food or a special traditional cuisine can act as a motivator to travel across the home country (Thach, 2007). Food and wine tourism characteristics and typologies Food and wine tourism is flourishing due to a number of reasons around the world. The most important and predominant reason of promoting the food and wine tourism is to improve economic growth. Moreover, food and wine tourism has gained attention due to increased interest in the other country’s societal values, environmental interest, and their culture. Today, many people and countries are showing interest in dining and cooking, subsequently which has resulted in an increase in restaurants’ revenue. Moreover, awareness regarding quality dining and cooking has led to the promotion of TV cooking shows. Today, we are living in a “cafe society”, which implies that people want to enjoy their life more through the gastronomic art and by enjoying conversation with friends and family during the meal. So, food and wine being a part of gastronomic art are gaining massive amount of attention among various countries. Furthermore, people travel to other countries only to enjoy food or wine festivals and to enjoy the destination’s country traditional meals. The top 6 demands and desires for an average food and wine visitor are natural beauty (45%), wines and wineries (31%), accessibility that is near to their residence (30%), friendly and well-informed service (16%) and food that includes restaurants, food festivals and events (15%), (Cooper & Hall, 2005). Moreover, increased promotion of food and wine tourism has resulted in, (1) growth of local markets and farmers, (2) increased economic returns, (3) destination country’s food make tourist believe that they are embracing another culture, (4) Food and wine gives tourist a “sense of belongingness” and a “sense of privilege” and emotional attachment with the particular food place (Thach, 2007). New Zealand New Zealand's 'Pacific Rim' cuisine style has been inspired by various countries like Europe, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. This unique blend of influences has resulted in the creation of food that is available in cafes and restaurants. The dishes that have resulted in emergence of food tourism are lamb, pork; salmon, crayfish, Bluff oysters, paua, mussels and scallops; kumara (sweet potato); kiwifruit and tamarillo; and Pavlova, our national dessert, made from fresh whipped cream topped with fresh fruits. Moreover, New Zealand is also offering a wide range of international cuisines which includes Japanese, Indian, Halal, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Malaysian, and Thai. New Zealand is also famous for its wines, and many people travel to New Zealand to enjoy the taste of wine. The white wines, specifically Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, have gained international recognition. Many tourists visit New Zealand only to enjoy its traditional food and wine (The World Factbook, 2009). Moreover, the graph is representing the percentage of the share of tourism expenditure in New Zealand, in accordance to the type of product involved in tourism. Food and beverage services make up 11% of the total share of tourism expenditure in 2009. So, this means that a significant amount in tourism is spent on food and wine services (Statistics New Zealand). Characteristics of food and wine tourism in New Zealand New Zealand’s food and wine is considered to be the best among the world. The taste of food and the wine over there is paramount. Although many countries are offering excellent taste in food and wine but New Zealanders offer and promote an environment that is relaxing and uninterrupted by external environment. There are many different reasons which promote New Zealand’s food and wine tourism; (1) to taste the quality food and wine, (2) to gain knowledge regarding local food and wine, (3) to experience the ambiance of the restaurants or wineries, (4) to match food and wine with tourist’s own culture, (5) to have fun in food and wine festivals and events, (6) to appreciate the cultural heritage and art, (7) to learn about eco-tourism (Thomas, 2004). Food and wine typologies in New Zealand The New Zealand’s wine is considered to be “the best” wine around the world. New Zealand has produced award winning wines, which is gaining attention for tourists. Therefore, New Zealand is exporting the top quality wine worldwide. The leading wine producing regions in New Zealand are West Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough and Canterbury. New Zealand’s food sector has also been fully recognized and appreciated around the world. The major food items that have gained tourists’ attention and offer them a sensational taste are; (1) Zespri Gold kiwifruit, a new variety of the local fruit; (2) green lipped mussels and paua are famous for New Zealand’s seafood category; (3) hokey pokey (honeycomb) ice cream; and (4) L&P, a soft drink. Tourist’s characteristics and trends The tourist plays a significant role in the development of tourism industry of a particular country. The tourist’s characteristics basically gauge his holiday plan and reason for travelling across the country (Hall 2004, p.221). Therefore, every tourist will be different from one another and will be having varying interests in the destination country. Similarly, tourists that are interested in going to New Zealand might be having different underlying reasons for their visit which can be education, sight-seeing, food, entertainment and many other reasons. There are different ways to categorize the tourists but the most convenient one is on the basis of demographics. The main demographic factors are as follows (Hall, Sharples, Cambourne, & Macionis, 2002, p 164): 1. Gender: According to the collected data regarding food and wine tourism in New Zealand, the involvement of both male and female is almost equal that is 50% and 49% respectively. 2. Age: There are different age groups which have different priorities. For instance, the age group of 18- 29 is 16%; the age group 30-39 is 28% and 40-49 is 23 % and so on. The age groups are self-explanatory; the first age bracket caters the students and fresh graduates which are looking for job or if they have a job it usually is very basic with normal salary. The maximum percentage of tourists lies in second age bracket that is 30-39. In this age bracket, usually the people are at their peak level with good salary, so they can afford to visit New Zealand and enjoy the food and wine festivals and events. 3. Income: The income again is divided in different brackets. With salary considered to be in New Zealand Dollars, the first bracket is less than $20,000 and 10.3% chances to go for tourism. The second bracket caters to $40,000- $49,000, this range has 17% chances to visit New Zealand for food and tourism purpose. The third bracket includes tourists having an income above $80,000 and they have 21% chances to visit New Zealand for tourism purpose. So in short, if income increases, then the chances to visit New Zealand or any other country for food and wine tourism also increase (Hall, Sharples, Cambourne, & Macionis, 2002, p 164). 4. Education: The education contributes a lot in defining tourist characteristics. In education, there are three further divisions which are High school, undergraduate and Graduate degree and their respective contribution in increasing the News Zealand’s tourism industry that is 16.3%, 16.9% and 33.9%. Hence, it explains that the more the tourists are well educated, higher will be their chances of visiting News Zealand for food and wine tourism, because they will be better aware of their surroundings and details of food and wine tourism. 5. Occupation: It matters a lot while planning the holidays. At times, occupation alone can represent age, income, education all together in one heading. There are a number of occupations but the broader categorization includes students, professionals and retired. It is obvious that among these three, the lowest percentage will be of students, while highest be of professionals. Their contribution to the development of New Zealand food and wine tourism sector are 1.8% from students, 66% from professionals, and 12% from retired. Obviously, the earnings of professionals are considered way higher than students or retirees, so they can spend money and time in order to explore and enjoy the food and wine tourism industry of New Zealand (Hall, Sharples, Cambourne, & Macionis, 2002, p 164). Supply and demand Demand: According to Cooper (2004, pp. 76), demand is a schedule of the amount of any product or service that people are willing and able to buy at each specific price in a set of possible prices during some specified period of time. Then further demand is subdivided into different categories, and one of which is “tourism demand” (Nelwamondo, 2009).The magnitude of demand varies a lot sometimes due to time and sometimes due to seasons. The tourism demand broadly depends on the tourists and the destination country for tourism. Food and beverages services Domestic demand International demand Total demand Total supply Tourism product ratio Business and government demand Household demand $(million)     2007   92 R 890 R 1,468 R 2,450 R 5,902 R 0.42 R 2008   97 R 927 R 1,506 R 2,529 R 5,978 R 0.42 R 2009   99 R 956 R 1,483 R 2,538 R 5,959 R 0.43   Table 1: Tourism expenditure: by type of product and type of tourist (2007-2009) The Table 1 (Statistics New Zealand, 2010) is basically reflecting the food and wine tourism in terms of domestic and international demand. The international demand has decreased in 2009 due to the increase in inflation rate in the particular year, but the domestic demand has still increased. There are different ways to predict tourism demand which is economic, psychological and geographical perspectives. There are internal and external factors that affect the tourism demand in different ways. 1. External factors: The factors that are related to individual’s surrounding are called external factors. The external factors are income, time availability, technology advancements, media and demographical changes. a) Income: The disposable income always influences the chances of travelling. The income and the tourism are positively related that is the higher the income, the higher will be the chances of travelling. b) Time factors: The availability of free time affects the travelling probability of the individuals. If the individual is having leisure time only then he can go for food and wine tourism in New Zealand. So, we see that the highest rate of tourism is in summer holidays or winter breaks, where people are having ample amount of free time. c) Technology advancements: Today, technology is changing and upgrading on daily basis and hence has increased the transportation facilities. At present, we are having number of transportation choices, from which we can plan our holidays. Moreover, the transportation facilities are divided on the basis of individual’s budget, like if a tourist has a unlimited budget then he will prefer air travel while on the other hand, a tourist who has a tight budget will try finding economical transport like by train or bus or even private transport. So, availability of different kinds of transportation facilities has increased the tourism demand. d) Demographical changes: The increase in population which has also resulted from foreign immigrants in the country, have amplified the tourism demand. The number of foreigners in the country will directly influence the tourism demand, because the foreigners would prefer going to their previous countries in their free time. e) Media: The extent to which the media promotes the country has an impact on tourism. If the media highlights the beauty, cultural heritage, food and art of the country, this will positively influence the tourism industry of the respective industry. Moreover, today internet is used as an excellent tool for promoting tourism industry of different countries. 2. Internal factors: The factors that are related to individual needs are classified as internal factors. These factors can be health, education and other physical factors. a) Health: It is obvious that if the individual is healthy and physically fit, only then he can go for food and wine tourism. Moreover, it depends on the individual’s residence country’s health condition, if the overall rate of healthy citizen is high than the rate of tourism is also expected to be high. b) Education: If the literacy rate of the country is high that is, a massive amount of people in the respective country have basic education, the probability of travelling for food and wine tourism will be high. Because, if the people have the knowledge regarding other country’s specialties, only than they will be interested travelling across the country. c) Physical factors. There are number of different factors that fall in this heading but the most significant factors are age, physical health and many others. Mostly, individuals above 18 years of age travel for food and wine tourism because they become independent, and are earning for their own living without any responsibilities. Moreover, physical health matters a lot, because if a person is physically impaired than the probability of their travelling across the country will be very less. Supply The supply of tourism is equally important as the demand of tourism. Because, if the demand is there in the market, than supply should also be there to fulfill the demand of the tourist. The tourism supply will depend significantly upon the government and the regulating bodies of the destination countries. Moreover, the tourism supply means supplying the infrastructure and facilities to the tourist in the best available form. The infrastructure includes the transportation facilities, accommodation and telecommunication services. Food and beverages services Total supply Tourism product ratio Tourism supply Tourism-characteristic industries All other industries Imports Total Tourism-characteristic industries All other industries Imports sold directly to tourists by retailers Total $(million) $(million) 2007   4,271 R 1,631 R 0   5,902 R 0.42 R 1,817 R 634 R 0   2,450 R 2008   4,281 R 1,697 R 0   5,978 R 0.42 R 1,857 R 672 R 0   2,529 R 2009   4,213 R 1,746 R 0   5,959 R 0.43   1,843 R 695 R 0   2,538 R Table 2: Derivation of tourism supply from total supply (2007-2009). The Table 2 (Statistics New Zealand, 2010) represents that the tourism supply has a significant portion in total supplies. This means that New Zealand is contributing significantly to the development of tourism industry and other industries related to tourism sector. It depicts that New Zealand wants to develop and flourish its tourism industry. The tourism supply depends on the following three elements (Vanhove, 2005): 1. Hospitality: The services included in the hospitality are accommodations, food services, leisure activities and other entertainment facilities. The destination country should provide the best and comfortable environment to the tourists. The suppliers of hospitality service can be both government and private sectors. The suppliers should make sure that it provides the service that best suits their tourists. The better the hospitality services in a country the better will be the tourism supply. New Zealand is offering accommodation and restaurants at different rates to promote its tourism industry. 2. Transport: The transport includes all the public and private transport facilities like air travel, train, car, metros, subways etc. The government and the private suppliers of the transportation facility should provide easiness and accessibility to the tourists in terms of transport services. The ease with which the tourist can move from one place to another in a country adds value to its tourism industry. 3. Attractions or products: The attraction means the reason of travelling across the country. The individual’s travelling for food and wine tourism in New Zealand would like to enjoy its food and wine, in order to make tourist enjoy most of it the destination country should put some efforts in this regards like the easy accessibility to the food courts, restaurants, coffee shops and wineries. The suppliers of the attractions and the product should also provide the necessary information to the tourist, so that the tourists have all the information before landing in the destination country. Product Total demand (from table 16) Total supply (from table 18) Tourism product ratio(3) $(million) Tourism-characteristic products       Accommodation services 1,834 1,952 0.94 Food and beverage serving services 2,327 5,474 0.43 Road, rail, and water passenger transport(4) 545 1,060 0.51 Tourism-related products       Retail sales – alcohol 212 3,978 0.05 Retail sales ? clothing and footwear 542 4,077 0.13 Retail sales ? food, beverages, tobacco, and groceries 1,170 32,107 0.04 Table 3: Derivation of tourism product ratio (2006) The data in table 3 (Statistics New Zealand , 2010) depicts that in New Zealand, the demand for food and wine services is less as compared to the supply. It clearly interprets that New Zealand has to increase the awareness regarding its food and wine tourism both nationally and internationally so that the food and wine demand could increase and can reach a stage where the total demand becomes equal to the total supply. SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis is a useful technique in strategic planning. It comprises of strength, weakness, opportunity and threats, both internal and external to the corporation. SWOT analysis gives a bird eye view of industry, market and company’s competitors. It helps organizations in formulating a market strategy, which will in long run be beneficial for the respective company (Bohm, 2009). Food and wine tourism has gained attention in recent years. Today, many people travel across country to enjoy the food and the wine of a particular country. Currently, whenever the food and wine tourism comes into our mind, the destination country to enjoy it is, New Zealand. The SWOT analysis of Food and wine tourism (Var & Gunn, 2002) in New Zealand is: 1. Strengths New Zealand is offering natural and cultural diversity. The unique feature of New Zealand is its diversity in terms of seasons, the landscapes and the flora and fauna. As it is having different climate and landscapes so the food is also diverse. The specialty food that New Zealand is offering is cheese, lamb, seafood mussels, fruits and the best quality wine. Beautiful landscape in New Zealand Availability of wide range of restaurants Increased economic growth Increased foreign earnings Government support in building and maintaining New Zealand’s infrastructure Very low crime and corruption rate 2. Weaknesses Less awareness among people regarding food and wine tourism in New Zealand. Variable and unpredictable weather of New Zealand can restrain tourists from going there. New Zealand is at low altitude, so sun rays are stronger and chances of severe sunburn limit the tourist from visiting it. 3. Opportunities Easy accessibility through air travel Increased in job opportunities by improving and motivating the existing infrastructure Rise in income of individuals involved in providing hospitality services. 4. Threats Fluctuation and inconsistency in international tourist arrivals. The fluctuation mostly occurs due to the economic changes like inflation, which reduces the buying power of individuals. Increase competition from the neighboring countries or other countries. Like most people usually want to spend their vacations in European countries, because of the increased awareness regarding the European countries. Australia, New Zealand’s neighboring country, which is also famous for its food and wine tourism is its biggest competitor. In their efforts to increase the tourist attention especially in terms of food and wine, New Zealander’s are building and promoting hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and wineries at the stake of deforestation and destroying the flora and fauna of the country. Increase rate of volcanic activity can restrain tourists from spending holidays in New Zealand. Management issues and policies The New Zealand Ministry of tourism handles national tourism management and policies. Tourism New Zealand is the marketing agency that is taking care of marketing of New Zealand’s tourism industry internationally. It is responsible for the development and monitoring of food and wine tourism in New Zealand. The New Zealand tourism strategy 2015 was launched in 2007. The main focus of this strategy was guiding the visions and direction of tourism sectors. The implementation plan proposed by New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015 was implemented by the collaboration of all the public and private companies related to tourism industry. There are number of policies that are related to the tourism industry some of which are hospitality workforce training, mentoring programs, Sustainable tourism Advisors in Region program and many others (OECD, 2010). Impact The tourism always has a positive impact on the country’s economy. New Zealand’s tourism is contributing 16.7% to the total export earnings. Moreover, till March 2009 international tourism receipts reached NZD 9.3 Billion. Tourism industry is contributing to 9.1% of the New Zealand’s GDP. From 2002 to 2009, employment in tourism industry has increased steadily by 12.7% (The World Factbook, 2009). Future implication New Zealand has achieved a vital position in terms of food and wine tourism. Although, tourism industry is contributing to the GDP of the country, but still the country is lacking behind in properly advertising its tourism industry. New Zealand has to create awareness among national and international tourist regarding the food and wine tourism. Therefore, increased awareness will result in improved foreign earnings that will contribute in increasing New Zealand’s GDP. Along with the increased GDP, New Zealander’s should focus its attention in marketing its tourism industry. New Zealand should not confine itself to one or two website, but should target its customer over social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook. In a long run, if New Zealand’s tourism industry will develop and flourish itself then, it will not only improve the tourism industry management but will also provide job opportunities. Tourists might know about beauty and serenity of New Zealand, but they should also be informed regarding the quality food and wine they are offering to their tourist. Therefore, New Zealand’s aim should be, marketing and promoting their specialty food and wine. Moreover, today if we are to plan holidays the countries that will come into our mind are European countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. New Zealand has to work on its marketing strategies, so that they can gain recognition especially regarding food and wine tourism overseas. References 1. Bohm, A., 2009. The SWOT Analysis. Germany: GRIN Verlag. 2. Buhalis D. & Costa C., 2006. Tourism business frontiers: consumers, products and industry. Butterworth-Heinemann. 3. Cook, R.A., 2007. Tourism: The Business Of Travel. 3rd ed. India: Pearson Education India, pp. 63. 4. Cooper C., and Hall, C.M., 2005. Oceania: a tourism handbook. Canada: Channel View Publications. 5. Costa, C. 2006. Tourism Business Frontiers: Consumers, Products, and Industry, Elsevier Ltd. 6. Hall M.C., 2004. Wine, food, and tourism marketing. USA: Routledge, pp. 221. 7. Hall, C.M., Sharples, L., Cambourne, B., and Macionis, N., 2002. Wine tourism around the world: development, management and markets. Butterworth-Heinemann, pp.164…visitors 8. Nelwamondo, T., 2009. Tourism Development through Strategic Planning For Non-Metropolitan Small to Medium size Accommodation Facilities in Limpo Province, South Africa. University of Pretoria. 9. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2010. OECD Publishing. 10. Ritchie, B. W., Carr, N., and Cooper, C.P., 2003. Managing educational tourism. Great Britain: Channel View Publications, pp. 28. 11. Statistics New Zealand (2010). Tourism satellite account: 2010. [Online] Available at [Accessed on 26th March 2011]. 12. Thach, L., 2007.Trends in Wine Tourism: Discover the motivations of wine tourists and the challenges, benefits and trends in wine tourism. . [Online] Available at [Accessed on 26th March 2011]. 13. The World Factbook 2009. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2009 [Online] Available at [Accessed on 26th March 2011]. 14. Thomas, R., 2004. Small firms in tourism: international perspectives. Netherlands: Elsevier. 15. Vanhove, M., 2005.The economics of tourism destinations. Great Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann. 16. Var, T., and Gunn, C.A., 2002. Tourism planning: basics, concepts, cases. USA: Routledge. APPENDIX Food and wine tourism In New Zealand Cafe & Restaurant Retail Sales Trends CREDIT: Steve Swann - Tourism Properties Tourist’s characteristics Read More