HOW DESTINATIONS CAN HELP TRAVELLERS TO ‘EAT LIKE A LOCAL’

“Rather than trying to promote gastronomy as one of the many points of attraction of a destination, DMOs should now place gastronomy as a horizontal layer of their destination marketing and product development strategies instead of a vertical one. After all, we all become food travellers at some point in our travels.”

This is just one of the recommendations put forward by our Hotel and Restaurant Marketing Expert Steve Lowy, and Senior Tourism Analyst Peter Jordan in a major new report published this month by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The Second Global Report on Gastronomy Tourism was released at a special event in from 8-9 May held in San Sebastian, Spain, a destination renowned for its high head-count of Michelin-starred chefs. It will now be distributed to over 150 ministries of tourism and over 400 Affiliate Member organizations around the world. 

Download the full report!

Given Steve’s first-hand experience in helping independent restaurant and hotel businesses to stand out, and Peter’s work on monitoring and advising on trends in P2P tourism services (of which food and fine dining represents a growing share), UNWTO were keen to get some practical insights from our expert associates.

Stay up to date

Another of our recommendations included the need for destinations to help businesses in the food and beverage industry to stay up to date with formal training and guidance in digital marketing, assisting businesses with implementing their strategies by including responsive websites, social media strategy and influencer engagement.

TOPOSOPHY’s experience in digital marketing and destination development is intimately linked with food and fine dining experiences. This year Toposophy was yet again behind the success of this year’s Dine Athens, a week-long food event which saw more than 12.000 foodies from Athens and beyond, descend to the city’s restaurants to try special menus, taste something new and expand their list of favourite places to dine.

Alpha Bank and Diner’s Club placed their trust in us to carry out the full project execution, including a full PR & marketing campaign, booking engine setup and dedicated website. The results speak for themselves: 11m Facebook impressions, 12.000 menus sold, and more than 287% increase in Diners card sales.

How we can help you

Steve Lowy, our Hotel and Restaurant Marketing expert has spent his career in the field of hospitality, and now runs Umi Digital, our Toposophy UK office. Steve offers a full or half-day workshop will give you valuable tips on how to best market directly to your customers both online and offline, and help you create 360 degree marketing strategy for your hospitality or restaurant business.

For more information, email us anytime at info@toposophy.com