Gastronomic tourism needs state support – this is the main conclusion reached by the participants of the round table “For tasty and healthy food! Gastronomic tourism in Russia: trends, problems, prospects”. The event was organized by the Union “ESOT – the Eurasian Commonwealth of Travel Industry Specialists” and the media holding “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.
Industry experts discussed the extent to which gastro brands influence the socio-economic development of regions, what are the most popular gastro travel destinations in the country today, how to develop the gastronomic business, and how effective gastronomic festivals are for travel.
– Gastronomic tourism intersects with all types of tourism, from sightseeing to beach tourism. Even having arrived at the sea, a person may not bathe, but he cannot not eat. On any trip, a tourist encounters local cuisine. Gastronomy – this is one of the tools not only to attract tourists and detain them, but also to “force” them to return, to try what they didn’t have time to, – said Elena Sergeeva, project manager “ESOT – the Eurasian Commonwealth of Travel Industry Specialists.
Today gastronomic tourism in Russia is one of the fastest growing travel industries. According to statistics, a tourist spends about 30% of vacation money on food, and according to the World Tourism Organization, more than 50% of travelers choose destinations that seem interesting to them in terms of gastronomy. Gastronomic tourism is often relied upon in terms of socio-economic development. Today, a kind of struggle is unfolding between Russian regions for the tourist, for his money. Where a tourist will go often depends on how attractive the region will be, including from the point of view of gastronomy.
– Gastronomy – it's not just food, but economy, culture, heritage and national identity. Gastronomic tourism in Russia – newcomer among other types of travel. Today, it is this direction that is developing most dynamically in our country, but at the same time it does not exist legally. No terminology, no thesaurus, we don't understand what's going on. Neighboring regions often do not know what is happening nearby. Everyone rushed to look for their gastronomic identity, but often it looks sad. As a result, advertising of random products begins, those products that are distantly related to the place, or invented by modern authors of history, and neighboring regions often promote the same product that is not at all unique, – explained deputy head of the gastrotourism committee of the Russian Union travel industry Elena Ishchenko.
– Now is the time when it is very important to delve into your roots and understand what exactly the region is famous for. Such historical uniqueness is not easy to find, but the one who finds it becomes attractive. For example, this year, in the mountains of Sochi, at the Rosa Khutor resort, a gastronomic festival will be held from August 1 to 6. We made a very simple move by offering set menus in restaurants from local products, for example, rapans that are found in the Black Sea. We found such products that are only in our mountains, including mushrooms, their chefs themselves picked them in May-April, when it is not the season for them in other parts of the country. Or, for example, there is such a herb as tsitsmat, which grows only three months a year, it is also included in the resort's dishes – said gastronomic ambassador and famous chef “Rosa Khutor” Mark Statsenko.
Also, the lack of legislative certainty in gastronomic tourism does not allow the authorities to support the development of this direction. There is no mention of this type of travel in any official document in the country. Accordingly, regional authorities to help develop this direction – very difficult.
– There are no concepts for the development of gastronomic tourism in the regions. Therefore, in order to understand how the authorities can help the development of this area, it is necessary to determine the base, create public-private partnerships between government and business. Now such a symbiosis in the regions is developing intuitively, – said President of the International Center for Oeno-Gastronomy, Head of the Center for Gastrodiplomacy of the RANEPA Leonid Gelibterman.
The Pskov region is a worthy example of interaction between government and business in the development of gastronomic tourism, and the deputy spoke about the possibilities of the region< strong>Chairman of the Committee for Tourism of the Pskov Region Klimova Elena.
A special tourist route has been developed and launched here, which includes visits to the gastronomic sites of the – apple orchards, the only museum of the Seto people in the country, where you can try pumpkin compote or cook warm cheese with cumin at a master class, ostrich and snail farms, and visit a bread farm with its famous Pskov pies, gingerbread and traditional porridge.
– Gastronomic tourism has, among other things, an educational role, tourists go not just for food, but for new knowledge and impressions. Since 2012, we have been developing the production of organic products in Uglech, we are the largest Russian producer, and four years ago we began to notice interest in our products not only from experts and journalists, but also from tourists. We recently acquired the Uglich Cheese and Butter Factory. For many years he practically did not act. During the modernization of the enterprise, a lot of interesting facts were found about the history of cheese production, where did “Russian”, “Kostroma” cheese, according to what state standards they were made and many other documents, photo and video materials. For example, a video from the 60s of the last century was discovered, which shows a six-kilometer milk pipeline that brought milk from the farm to the factory.
As a result, it was decided to organize the “Museum of Cheese”. A kind of corridor with transparent windows was specially designed in the factory building so that visitors could see how cheese is produced in modern conditions, and then compare it with how it was in the last century, – shared Director of the Public Relations and Media Department of the Group of Companies “Agranta” Sergey Nosov.
restaurateur Andrei Matveev and Marketing Director Victoria Matveeva(steak&fish house EL CHICO and gastronomic restaurant #Moskva) presented their views on gastronomic tourism in the Voronezh region. They offer to pay attention to gastronomic festivals, and from the point of view of promoting local products.
Naturally, Sochi is one of the most popular places for gastrotourism. This is simply explained – There is no need to attract tourists to this resort, there are already so many of them.
– In the mountains of Sochi, there are three types of cuisines that are in demand among travelers. Naturally, Caucasian, in which the most popular product is meat, most often lamb. Kuban gastronomy is interesting with its borscht, dumplings and pies. Attracts the Black Sea cuisine – mussels, garfish, rapana and some others. Surprisingly, in Krasnaya Polyana, a village founded by the Greeks, Greek cuisine is practically not represented.
There is a lack of interaction for tourists. With an average length of stay in a mountain cluster of four days, master classes in cooking khachapuri or khinkali turn out to be very popular. For some reason, we do not use the wonderful Soviet “find” – Caucasian evenings, when tourists can not only get acquainted with the gastronomy of the region, but also its culture, – shared the organizer of gastronomic events Andrey Shishkin.
Considering that gastronomy is one of the most accessible pleasures, additional experiences allow you to keep it for a long time. And therefore, one of the important steps for the development of gastronomic tourism is the organization of events of various levels, from show-serving in restaurants and culinary master classes in preparing local dishes, ending with festivals of a national scale.
Round Table Participants “For tasty and healthy food! Gastronomic tourism in Russia: trends, problems, prospects noted that a gastronomic map of the country can become an important tool, according to which each tourist can easily identify restaurants recommended for visiting during the trip. Her, shall we say, “fragment” already developed at Rosa Khutor in Sochi. The gastronomic route is composed of eight resort establishments and allows guests to taste the most interesting dishes of the region during their vacation.