Exploring the World of Food Tours

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  • November 09, 2015

You know the expression “be a tourist in your own city”, have you ever done that? I haven’t and am just now realizing all that I am missing by not taking advantage of the awesome services, tours and events that go on in my own town.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

I recently had the pleasure of learning about an experience that any one interested in the culinary scene must investigate: food tours. No matter where you live, your town has a food personality and history all its own. Living in major cities where dining out is a big part of our entertainment, it never occurred to me to learn the history of restaurants, chefs, and products sold in my backyard. When I think about it, what do you hear people talking about on vacation? The restaurants they want to go too. The restaurants they went too. And looking for restaurants to go too! We want to dine like the locals do, even on vacation.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

So, whether you are in your hometown or on vacation, it’s time to go on a culinary adventure. The really intriguing part is how many options you may just have in your own town. In Chicago, there is a company called Chicago Food Planet Food Tours (CFPFT) that is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Shane Kost, the founder of CFPFT, has created a highly respected and celebrated brand (more than 2,200 reviews on Trip Advisor!) that welcomes locals and tourists to learn about Chicago’s food communities. Chicago Food Planet Food Tours offers 12 types of tours ranging from neighborhood to category focused. For example, the tour you choose to go on may be focused on learning about any of the following: pizza, beer, chocolate, ethnic foods, food trucks and of course, hot dogs.

FOOD TOURS

In the city of Chicago, neighborhoods truly define the community in which the locals live. You can pick walking tours that take you through a locale that will give you the chance to visit restaurants, bakeries, and breweries while getting a brief history lesson on the origin of the food or business relative to the neighborhood. You may also choose to visit Chicago’s Chinatown, learning about the culture, food and history of the area from your knowledgeable tour guide.

 

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

In October, the Global Food Tourism Conference was held in Chicago at The Second City, hosted by Food Tour Pros President, Shane Kost. I was fortunate to be able to attend this seminar as it introduced me to the food tour industry from a social as well as business standpoint.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

At this conference, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting people from across the world that are so passionate about their communities that they have created tours that help you to see their town through their eyes. You could be in sunny California on Catalina Island, shopping Seattle’s Pike Place Market, exploring Roanoke, dining in Montreal, beaching it in Nassau, drinking rum in Puerto Rico, beer tasting in Chicago or exploring Europe from a culinary perspective. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. 

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

During your food adventure, you may be learning how rum is made, trying a unique specialty cocktail or favorite local dish or sampling tasty bites from one of many categories (pizza, chocolate). Most are walking tours where you spend 15-30 minutes in each location enjoying the specialties of the house and learning about the chef, dish or restaurant’s history. What you will leave the experience with is an understanding of the theme of the tour from those who understand it best.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

Some statistics that were shared at the conference really had me looking at the food tourism industry from a new perspective. Did you know that $201 billion* was spent by tourists in 2012 in the U.S. on food tourism and services? Or that $100,000** per minute is spent on food and drink in the U.S.? With the rise of celebrity chefs, cooking shows, channels and networks, a multi-cultural consumer, the desire to experience dining out, food bloggers and influencers, and overall interest in the foods we are eating, the fascination with culinary tours makes total sense.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

Throughout the conference, we had the opportunity to listen to food tour company owners describe their stories, markets, and opportunities to show locals another side to their hometown and to welcome tourists to their community.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

We even heard from James Beard winner, Mindy Segal of Hot Chocolate Restaurant in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood, talk about the effects of culinary tourism on local establishments. From a restaurant’s perspective, she sees food tours as a way to “celebrate the community we are in”.Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

The beauty of this conference was how supportive everyone was to each other sharing their tips, tricks, contacts and suggestions. There were experienced food tour company leaders who shared how they launched their business, determined what types of tours to offer, how to find the best candidates for roles as tour guides, how to deal with competition, marketing and business development efforts, challenges when potential partners (ie. restaurants) aren’t quite able to see the benefit of participating in food tours, thoughts on the future of the industry, how food is seen around the world and creative ways to get your brand out to the marketplace using mobile technology.

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

For anyone interested in starting their own culinary tour business or looking for support, the best place to begin is Food Tour Pros. Their expertise is extensive and well-designed courses offer guidance to assist you in building the foundation for your company. They can be reached hereInspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food ToursIn the end, anyone who enjoys the culinary space whether local or while on vacation, should be signing up to take food tours. It is an experience that is not only educational and delicious, but fun! To learn more about the wealth of food tour companies that participated in the Global Food Tourism Conference, you will find contact information and food tour websites here. You can also check the local tourism bureau or Trip Advisor  website for more information on locations of interest to you. The very first statement I heard at the conference is the one I will end with: “Food tours feed your mind as much as your bellies”. So true. 

Inspiring Kitchen Exploring the World of Food Tours

 

Have you ever taken a food tour? I would love to hear all about it. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

*Source: Skift and Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance

**Source: World Food Travel Association

21 Comments

  • First a friendly suggestion, your blog is hard to read beacause as you scroll the header always stays there. This makes a very small space to read and see photos. Just a suggestion for you.

    I have never been on a food tour but have often looked at them when traveling . YOu provide all the compelling reasons to attend.

  • We actually did a Brooklyn food tour recently when we visited USA, not sure if it is the same company? It was amazing – really enjoyed it and think food tours is a must.

  • We love food tours. We’ve actually taken a couple of amateur food tours of Atlanta. We sort of did it on our own. It was amazing!

  • I love food tours. They are a great way for me to taste food I would not normally order or eat. It helps me to expand my palette.

  • Oh how fun. I have never been on a food tour, but I have always wanted to go on one. I have to do it now! Looks amazing.

  • Kristen Dann says:

    I’ve never been on a food tour but it is definitely something I’ve looked into. I’m a huge foodie and love all types of food, so I think it would be fun to see what types of food are here in my area.

  • This looks like fun. I’ll be going to LA in a couple of weeks and I think I’m going to check out a wine tour or two or three. LOL! Thanks for sharing. Chicago is great city. – Yolonda

  • I would love to do a food tour like this! I had no idea that there was so many of them around the US!

  • Nancy L. says:

    What a great idea! It looks like you had a wonderful time on your tour! I live in Cleveland and would love to take a world of food tour in this city with so many different ethnic restaurants. Great post!

  • uprunforlife says:

    I haven’t ever been on a food tour either. I think it would be a great way to try new foods.

  • Katherine G says:

    I have never thought to take a food tour around my hometown. This would actually be a great idea. I love trying new foods. It would be a great experience. Thank you for such a fun idea.

  • Ann B says:

    I have never done a food tour before. It would be such a fun way to try new foods.

  • I would love to go on a food tour. I have never been, but it looks so fun!

  • This looks like a great way to spend the day and would make sure a fun unique date experience! I need to look into doing this in our home town, and will definitely look into it when we visit Chicago! Thanks for the info!

  • Lynndee says:

    I’ve never been to a food tour, but I’ve been wanting to do it. There’s one happening here in our city soon. I’m just waiting for the hubs to say yes. Would be fun to do it with him. 🙂

  • Kathy says:

    That sounds like so much fun. I would love to go on a food tour. I have always wanted to go on one. I love trying new foods. Sounds like you had fun too!

  • R U S S says:

    These food tours are a lot of fun – because there’s just a ton of food & there’s nothing like trying it the authentic way. We have quite a bunch that organizes them here in my country. It’s becoming pretty popular here.

  • Your city is a lot more interesting and diverse than mine. I would love to be able to visit someday and be a tourist there.

    • Inspiring Kitchen says:

      There is definitely a lot going on here. Come visit! Chicago welcomes tourists with a vast assortment of things to do. Fall is a beautiful season here.

  • maggie branch says:

    We certainly have and it is our favorite thing to do! We go to the local breweries and do beer tours with the tourists. It is so much fun and you meet a lot of cool people!

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