How Culinary Tourism is Transforming the Travel Space with Jane Connelly

Arica Sears  0:00  
Buenos Diaz Good day to the American shoreline Podcast Network audience, wherever in the world you are. I hope this episode finds you enjoying your summer and possibly even planning a trip in the near future anybody. I am Erica Sears, your host of big tourism, a show where we analyze tourism, destination management trends, case studies and interesting experts. Speaking of planning trips and interesting experts, today we are joined by a food tourism and culinary heritage expert Jane Connelly. With an understanding of and respect for food as a connector. Jane has spent more than a decade helping others appreciate food heritage, culinary experiences and sustainable economic development. She found her calling during her academic career, which spans three continents. Whether she was doing her homework and a small Mexican town are headed down a windy and delusion street for her classes at a Spanish University. Jane found that her most meaningful lessons came from preparing and sharing meals with locals and learning about the tradition behind the food as well as how to best uphold them from both a cultural and environmental standpoint. Jane loves being a food tourism and culinary heritage expert as emerges her passions food, nature and travel. It's important to her that these things are all perpetuated for future generations. Ever the outdoor adventure having grown up hiking and swimming in the Alpine mountains surrounding Seattle, with innumerable cross cultural experiences due to her studies and work experiences, and being part of a multicultural family of her own. Jane has the drive to an unmatched expertise in preserving and promoting local food ways and destination development, especially through community based tourism initiatives and projects, which I think our audience here will love. Jane's purpose is to open people's eyes to the wonders of the world's gastronomy while observing and preserving culture, customs in the planet. Whether it is bringing food to tourism or tourism to food. Jane is a resource for anyone interested in a meaningful gastronomy tourism experience. Welcome to the show, Jane. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, it is great to be here. And our audience knows that I love LinkedIn, hashtag sponsor me. And Jane and I actually met on LinkedIn. I guess how long ago was that? A few months? I think we've known each other for a few months now. Yes, yeah. And it's been great. I'm kind of have a similar backgrounds, both from the Pacific Northwest. You went to University of Oregon as well, correct? Yeah. And both were teachers in Spain. But Jane managed to stay there, everybody.

So far still here. I keep saying it's my last year, and then you know, 10 years later, here I am.

Well, I'm really happy for you. You made it work. And I'm jealous. I've been really craving Spain lately. So let's let's dive into your career, because it's really interesting. And I think that will take away a lot from kind of these different steps in your career. How does that sound? Let's go. So I thought we would actually start out and you and I haven't really talked about this as much. But again, saw this on your LinkedIn that you used to work for devour tours in Barcelona as a guide. Excellent. So do you want to share a little bit about what those types of tours were? What were you guiding people through? Yeah, I

Jane Connelly  3:49  
mean, I think that that's a really actually relevant work experience for me to have in this career. It it's provided me with the the entire spectrum right now I'm focusing more on, let's say, destination level, but as a guide, you're on the ground, right? And you're, you're you're speaking directly with the visitors, so you're answering their questions, you're seeing their immediate reactions to these experiences, these unique experiences around the city. So um, I mean, first of all, being the guide is a wonderful job. Not only do you get to enjoy, usually the city that you love so much, right, so you get to walk around and continuously enjoy and discover your own city. But of course, you get to share it and open the eyes of new visitors, right. So a lot of times when you're walking around the city, and especially with food tourism when you try a unique pastry, or a typical dish, and there's usually kind of a lightbulb moment in the visit. Mind that that you can tell that they realize that they probably wouldn't have had that experience without doing the food tour,

Arica Sears  5:08  
right? And they go, Oh, okay, so this is, this is why I'm on the tour, right? This is why food tour is different than me just looking up a restaurant TripAdvisor and going on my own. You know, it's interesting, because I feel like before I had the job I have now, I always felt like guides were this very European thing, like for very mature destinations, right? Like, I wound so many guided tours and Spain and Italy and all these places in Europe. And then since having this job, and especially through a destination management standpoint, where these areas, I have a lot of tourism, like guides are almost the key. They're like the solution, especially in outdoor recreation. But I love the idea of like the guide helping people find local food, right, like get to know the food and care about the background behind it. So what a fascinating situation you're in. I'm curious in Barcelona, such an international, you know, setting what what kind of people were usually on the tours, was there kind of a trend in the the type of person or the nationality or the age economics of it?

Jane Connelly  6:18  
Yeah, we definitely had a type, you know, and it was primarily American visitors. So visitors coming from the United States. They were normally visitors who had traveled quite a bit before. So it was wasn't often let's say, their first trip to Europe, maybe they maybe they've even been to Barcelona before and it's their second trip, or they've been to Spain before. And it's their second trip. So this sort of seasoned and curious travel traveler. But and then beyond that, I mean, age, we had, you know, from, from older people, to families with young kids to couples on their honeymoons, you know, across the board. There. We had a huge variety. But I would say, more than anything curious, well traveled Americans were our main guests.

Arica Sears  7:17  
Wow, what a refreshing thing to hear, you know, Americans get a really bad rap sometimes in Europe. So it's interesting when you provide that kind of experience, what kind of clients show up? And I just think that's interesting for our audience to think about as well. If they're considering sort of culinary tourism, having guides in their in their cities. That's a cool thing to think about. What we're, I'm always curious about like big takeaways. So at the end of the tour, I'm sure people were either like, Jane, you're amazing, or I'm so amazed by, you know, what were the big takeaways that guests would share with you before they left the tour.

Jane Connelly  7:57  
I think I think the biggest takeaway takeaways were often the smallest details. And what I mean by that are the small cultural curiosities. So of course, you know, the history behind the places, meeting the the owners of the family run bars and restaurants, trying the dishes, understanding the history of the dishes, all of that is extremely important to a food tour. But I think the big takeaways were the small details of really the culture of the place. So I mean, that by what time we have breakfast, what do we order for breakfast? What's a common way to order your coffee? Do we tip How much do we tip these sort of small cultural nuances around food and drink culture in the destination? I think in the end, they're small, but it was the big takeaway, that they would then leave the tour, feeling confident, to then go explore and enjoy on their own

Arica Sears  9:01  
without me so basically, you were like a culinary diplomat. Sure. Yeah. It's interesting. You know, I think a lot of times you know, visitors and tourists want to do the right thing. And it's not often easy to find information like on a tourism website, you know, usually we're providing inspirational information, but a lot of people just need to know those little details like What time should I be asking for this? How do I tip was the best way and so I think it's a really interesting thing to hear that and again to put the value behind having guides in your cities because people want that local like people want to blend in and do the right thing. Yeah, I

Jane Connelly  9:43  
think that the the you know what food tours offer and having local guides as you serve as that that bridge to the to the instrument, I wouldn't go as far as let's say education, but in a way it is an education and and giving an awareness And a why behind we behind the the things we do, right. So why do Spaniards close their restaurants from four to eight, right? So what they understand why that is, then it's, they're going to then block out the next day, they're going to do their tourism in the morning, they'll go have a great sit down my noodle via lunch. And then they might actually just head back to the hotel, rest for a little bit during that, you know, break time for the restaurants and a lot of the shops, and then be ready to go back out when things open up again. But if you don't have that introduction as to why the culture is the way it is, sometimes there can be a disappointment, right? So let's say maybe they're out all day, visiting museums, and then they're late to lunch, and they want to have lunch at four o'clock in the afternoon. And nothing's open. Well, that leaves the visitor really confused and frustrated. So I think food tours, it's a really fun, really, really fun and accessible way for visitors to really kind of deeply understand pieces of the culture in, in a comfortable way.

Arica Sears  11:18  
Yeah, I totally agree. And then on the other side, you know, the big takeaways for businesses, what what kind of feedback Did you get from businesses that were participating in your tours?

Jane Connelly  11:30  
That's really fun to see. Um, I would say overall a sense of pride, right. So a lot of times, you know, the best food tours, they find the the family run businesses that have been there for a long time, they've been doing what what they've been doing for a long time. Normally, you know, very hyper Li, hyper local, maybe not so much on the tourist track. And so it's really, really fun to see the business owners, watching the visitors, the guests, try their food, look around their restaurant, in in all taking photos, and excited about what they're trying. And you can see this, this pride that they have, wow, someone came from so far away, and made all this effort just to come, you know, maybe to my humble bar to try our humble food. And it looks like it's something really special to them.

Arica Sears  12:31  
Yeah, yeah. I think that's incredible to think about instilling pride in what you do in your business, and the role you play and in your community, but also in the visitor experience. So yeah, it's interesting hearing both sides of that for the guests and for the businesses. And how long How long did you do that for?

Jane Connelly  12:51  
Well, I was doing it. I think it was around a year and a half until the pandemic hit. And so last, I think last may know, maybe even earlier, like last March, the pandemic hit. And from there, tours stopped and just now they're starting to pick up but we're in no way going at full capacity yet.

Arica Sears  13:15  
Right. Right. It's so funny. It's like the like before COVID it's like bc 2019. Life was different. It's so funny, that'll that'll happen for a long time, I think. Yeah. Well, great. I love it. I love hearing about that part. And also, in tourism on the Oregon coast a lot where maybe the idea of tourism jobs is still questionable, like people aren't sure like, is a tourism job valuable. We talk often about how you can really build your way up sort of a tourism ladder, if you will. And so I love hearing people with you know, big jobs, I consider you having a big job and being successful, but also just starting with like actually working with a visitor and how like enjoyable that can be and how much you can learn from that. I think that's a very cool example. So thank you for sharing a little bit about your devour tour experience and hopefully, you know, after COVID ac start that back up again. The the next part of your career wanted to dive into is around the world of food travel Association. Can you explain a little bit about what that association does? Yes,

Jane Connelly  14:40  
so the World Food travel association is a it's a nonprofit association focused primarily on trade. And their mission basically, is to preserve and promote culinary culture through hospitality and tourism. So they do this. I mean, it's a trade association. So they focus on providing resources and opportunities to food travel trade. So whether that's doing research or hosting events, webinars, trainings, certifications, they also have awards. And then as well memberships, so they have a they're building a community as well.

Arica Sears  15:30  
So what kind of certifications? Can you dive into that little bit is what what does this certification look like? Yeah, so

Jane Connelly  15:36  
we built out. I think, right now they're offered their two certifications offered. There's one that's culinary tourist guide certification. So the idea is across, I mean, mainly across Europe. But I would say internationally, there are a lot of tourist guides who have have focused maybe primarily on culture and history of a destination. But they're now interested in exploring the the food and drink culture side and dipping into giving food tours and their destinations. So this certification offers that, that, that next step, for guides to then enter into the food tourism space.

Arica Sears  16:22  
That's very cool. I love hearing about different types of certification, I think it also provides, like, a legitimate, it's like almost like the license for a job, you know, and to have that on your resume or your CV is, is very cool for a guide to so. Um, excellent. And how and what was your role at the World Food travel Association? Yeah, so

Jane Connelly  16:43  
I started with them as an intern, actually, right after my master's, or I guess I started during my master's degree as an intern with them. And then I sort of worked my way up into a program manager position. And I have to say that although we're we were International Association, were quite a small team. And so Program Manager really meant wearing a lot of different hats. So I helped in, in running and organizing the awards to event management, to managing our ambassador program, to even you know, some marketing and website development for us.

Arica Sears  17:36  
A little bit of everything. I saw this, I think it was like a meme or something on Instagram the other day, and it was like a new idea. a talk show where our parents try to describe our jobs. People like, you and I are in a very similar boat. And I said, I was I listened to like, my, you know, my parents or my partner, like, try to explain what I do. And it's like, so cute, you know, cuz I'm like, my dad tells people like, she just talks with a lot of people, I think about tourism. And how do you feel your parents would do describing your

Jane Connelly  18:12  
job? That's so funny, because I mean, my dad, my dad actually just retired from a job he was in for 40 years. So the same company for 40 years. And it couldn't be more different than than the path that I'm on right now. Um, I honestly don't know how my parents would describe it. I don't know if they could I think they would, they would say she works in food tourism. She works with destinations, and restaurants, and probably the extent of what they say that I do.

Arica Sears  18:50  
Yeah. Hey, that's, you know, that's still pretty impressive. And it's interesting to just taking a sidestep. But you and I spent a lot of time talking about different generations and millennials and leadership. And you know, the idea that maybe our parents generation is like you were in one career for 40 years. And then more so like the millennial generation and younger, and I think plus tourism where you start getting your own niche, right, like you start working on a Tourism Organization, you're like, I'm really interested in the culinary side, or I'm really interested in the destination development side around outdoor recreation, and then you just keep changing as your interests become more specific. Which I think is very cool, but I can see how it's like confusing to someone if they're like, you wrote this job for three years and then five years in two years, and you know, meanwhile, parents are graduate, you know, retiring from like, a 40 year career so

Jane Connelly  19:46  
Exactly, and it's really interesting because I think in in travel and tourism, each, you know, like you said, it's it's like you're narrowing down not only your passion, but also I think in my case My past experiences that work experiences and life experiences as I'm getting into this sector I'm understanding how those and where they will support me best within travel and tourism. So I do a little bit here and then realize that will maybe Actually, I can actually do more in this space. And so it's it's a lot of fun at least for me it's it's kind of self discovery along with professional career development.

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Arica Sears  21:24  
I totally do. And I think like it being flexible as well is, and maybe our audience, you know, can can think about this as well. But in a lot of coastal areas, like on the Oregon coast, it's very rural. But having like this tourism kind of grade job that my parents can't explain, has allowed me to come back to the Oregon coast. And you know, as previously, I was also working in Spain and Paris and to take those experiences that I was building, like you just mentioned, and then wrap them into what I do here. And because it is harder to find a job on the Oregon coast that you're going to be in for 40 years. So I'm seeing more and more, especially during COVID of these remote workers coming out and then bringing all this great talent, and then joining local boards and volunteering and throwing their ideas around. Um, I think that tourism is one of those industries that is very good for for rural America. And can really, you know, bring back a lot of our talent. So

Jane Connelly  22:23  
and I agree. And I have to add that I think there I think tourism and travel, it's always changing and growing. And so I still feel like it's a sector that that you can pave your own path, right that that there's room for people to innovate and discover and start their own thing. And in a way, it's empowering. Because it you almost feel like you can really dictate where you want to go within this space.

Arica Sears  22:58  
Yeah, yeah. And it's, it's very exciting in that way, there's so much opportunity there. to flex with the times, you know, when when the whole world shuts down for a year and a half, there's still a lot of work that we can be doing and a lot of projects that still carried on. So yay, tourism in that way, in that way. And so we talked about this, we started talking, touching on this a little bit about community engagement. And, again, you and I have talked a lot about what what community engagement looks like. And I think sometimes it looks different on the Oregon coast than it does in your job in Spain, but also in these different countries in Europe. What surprises you most when you're working in community engagement, or when you work in community engagement with the World Food travel Association,

Jane Connelly  23:46  
I think in that position, and being within the World Food travel Association, community engagement was really interesting, because it was such an international and diverse community. So although maybe we weren't in person connecting only at our events, but on an on our online community, online activities and events, you had people from all around the world, different kinds of backgrounds, different kinds of passions, that you would find ways, a lot of similarities in the end, right, so so people coming from all around the world with different challenges, different goals and objectives, but then they find themselves in this space, which is the World Food travel Association, and they start finding similarities maybe with someone they would have never expected to have so much in common with

Arica Sears  24:51  
Yeah. And and I'm curious to like I feel like everyone does. You know, everyone has a unique vision for their community in many ways, but According to you know, tourism and culinary tourism, but do you feel like a lot of the challenges are sort of similar across the board like ours? Are you ever just like, oh, Italy community in Italy, you should talk to this one in Greece. We're working on the same thing.

Jane Connelly  25:15  
Absolutely. And it's not what you would think. Right. So, you know, a really common when you talk about Italy, for example, the the loss of culinary traditions, recipes and culture across generations, right, that's happening, primarily, I mean, especially in places with really, really strong culinary culture, right, where a lot of the grandmas maybe don't write down the recipes. So how do those get passed on further generations? And yesterday, I was talking with someone from Cambodia. And guess what one of the main issues they were talking about recipes being passed down? Yeah. And the loss of tradition around their culinary culture, across generations?

Arica Sears  25:57  
Yeah. It's, and I, you know, I asked them, because on this podcast, obviously, this is the American shoreline Podcast Network. But I love interviewing people internationally. Because I think that we do have a lot of similar issues and challenges and ideas. And oftentimes, I feel like at least on the Oregon coast, it feels really daunting to try to connect with like an international entity, like Oregon would rather try to talk to Washington, our neighbors to the north about what they're doing, because we're so similar than to even consider that maybe Italy has a similar idea that we could be working on them with, but there's like these different barriers. So it's just interesting to hear, you know, in this global context, that a lot of times the work that you were seeing, and the issues were similar, like passing down recipes, for example,

Jane Connelly  26:45  
yeah, fight, you know, the fight against globalization, which I think almost every corner of the world is now dealing with it is, especially when you start talking about, about food culture and unique ingredients, you need dishes, you know, how can a small business that has been around for a while compete with McDonald's for younger generations, you know, that's something that everywhere around the world is, is dealing with, and it's a way that we've discovered, you know, Food Tourism can help combat that.

Arica Sears  27:23  
I'm curious, as we kind of wrap up, you know, your world food travel Association part here? What was your proudest project that you did when you were working for them?

Jane Connelly  27:33  
I think, proudest or favorite, maybe my favorite project that I did, was last year, we created a program designed and created a program called culinary capitals. And it was designed, you know, mid pandemic, we were thinking of ways to, you know, how can we how can we aid in the recovery of destinations, the recovery of tourism destinations. And so we developed this accreditation program called culinary capitals. But the idea is, is that it's it's mainly focused on maybe up and coming or lesser known destinations that have been focusing on their food culture, focusing on promoting food tourism. And we created it designed it developed it, launched it last fall. And then the first culinary capital was given just last month to Grenada in the in the Caribbean.

Arica Sears  28:37  
Row. Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. Really, really fun project. Yeah, in so many ways,

is that it's kind of hard to leave that behind. Is that going to be an ongoing thing? Um, it was really hard to see. Yeah, it was really

Jane Connelly  28:52  
hard to leave it behind. I think that that is one of the things that I'll miss the most about it. But I believe so much in the power of food tourism, and in the power of what it can bring to a destination. So I would be more than happy to see if this program, you know, took off with or without me.

Arica Sears  29:15  
That's nice. Yeah. And to leave a legacy but very cool feeling. Well, let's move up to what you're doing. Now. If I understand correctly, you're an independent Food Tourism consultants. Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. So what does that look like? What does that mean?

Jane Connelly  29:32  
Well, I'm still discovering what it is now. Um, yeah, so I decided to step away from my role at the World Food travel Association towards the beginning of this year, and start exploring this space as an independent consultant. Because I'm really interested again, another pivot let's say in my discovering my niche in this space is working more in destination velopment so I had I really enjoyed being on the travel trade side of food tourism, you know, helping create resources programs. That side but but I feel more drawn to roll up my sleeves and engaged directly with destinations communities, small business owners. And I've discovered that the the way to do that is, is going to be through destination development projects. So stepping away from from that and and leading into the food tourism consulting. My first project was the creation of the first ever Food Tourism strategy for accounting in England. And that was a little bit of a trial for me, right is is this? Is this actually what I want to do? Is this the space I really want to grow and develop in? And absolutely, yes, it most certainly is.

Arica Sears  31:04  
Yeah, that's, that's, it's awesome to hear that and, you know, good for you for going out on a legend and experimenting a little bit. And that's always feels like a risk. And I'm really curious, what is it like for you to be a younger and I guess younger, like, you know, younger than 50 years old? I don't feel that young anymore. This still being like a younger, female American in this space. You're working internationally and working in different countries? And of course, everyone has different identities and who belongs in the food space? What is it like for you?

Jane Connelly  31:42  
I think that's a really good question. And I'm still discovering, right? I think that in any industry. And even if you come from any kind of background, when you're new to a space, you're, you're, you're you have to make your space, right. So I'm discovering how to do that the challenges that I'm running into, and, and maybe the let's say the the, I'm still figuring out the ways on on how to best navigate it. But I think my situation is is a little bit different. And I do have the advantage that I've been living in Spain for about a decade now. So almost 10 years. And so I think that immediately shifts my professional profile from maybe from American to more international. And I think once you have this international background, maybe a lot of stereotypes or judgments, they just don't really hold true. And so I think that has been an advantage to me. And as well just my daily experiences living in in another country, they translate directly to the work that I do. Right? Understanding the cultures, understanding what it's like to travel a destination or, and not know what to order or not understand the menu or all of those experiences translate directly into the work that I do. What has been really important to me is finding a mentor in this space. So about a year ago, I connected with a more senior person in the space. Let's say seasoned, seasoned professional in the space. And that has been that has changed everything for me to have a mentor in the space who I really trust. And and I can maybe I have a strange meeting with someone or they ask a question that I'm not really sure how to perceive it. I now have this person who has been around for a while they they understand the industry, they understand the business behind the industry, which is really, really important. And then I can I can go directly to them and say, Hey, what do you think about this? And sometimes they can say, oh, maybe that's inappropriate, or that's not how it should be? Or they say, Yep, perfect. Sounds good. That's totally normal. And having that person to lean on, as I'm discovering my role in this space has been really, really valuable.

Arica Sears  34:38  
Yeah, I'm I know, you and I have talked a lot about this. Because I think that having a mentor or being a mentor is so important. And when I asked people about being mentors all the time, are you a mentor? Do you have a mentor? Who are they? How often do you meet up I just am really interested especially when we look at different generations in the workplace. And I think that millennials want To have a mentor and a lot of times when they don't get a mentor through their boss or someone else, they leave the job. And so it's always interesting. And a lot of people that I talked to that are mentors to somebody else that are usually seasoned, and they say it's the best part of their career, it's been the highlight of their career as being a mentor, and kind of like kind of teaching the next generation about our industry or about what they're doing. And I think this past year in the United States, there's been a lot of conversation around racial and social justice, and what it means to be an ally. And people are just like, I don't know what it means to be an ally, am I an ally? Are you an ally? Am I America's Next Top ally? I think a lot of times, like being an ally comes via a mentor, and being able to open up and answer questions from somebody that isn't, you know, the predominant person in the space, which is usually like, maybe an older white male, being a mentor to someone else is, so that is really exciting to hear that you have that and really benefiting you.

Jane Connelly  36:02  
Yeah, I feel really, I feel really fortunate to have it and especially just to add as, as a young female exploring this space, having a mentor that you can talk really business, you know, you can put numbers, I think that especially as a consultant, I think probably anyone but you know, you're you're starting to, to put value onto your time onto the, onto the the work that you're doing. And it can be intimidating, when you're new to this space, what kind of background you have to, in the end, you have to put a numerical financial value on what you're doing. And that can be intimidating. And so I think, especially when you have a mentor who can get real with you, and you can talk in full confidence about that side of the business. It can, it can really change.

Arica Sears  36:58  
I hope everyone in the audience is like, I want to be a mentor. I am a mentor. A mentor. Yes, yeah. So I think that that's an important, important takeaway from this conversation. Really? What project are you working on right now, if you're able to share that you're most excited about?

Jane Connelly  37:18  
Yeah, so the the most exciting project I have right now, is a concept that I'm building out with a few other destination designers or destination development experts around a travel with purpose, concept. Um, so the idea is that we have a, we have a good friend who just inherited some land, she's from Croatia, from an island in Croatia. And she really wants to do to do more than then build a summer tourism home on the land, right, she really wants it to be meaningful to honor the legacy of her family, where that, you know, that the land is coming from. And so we're working closely with her to develop a travel with purpose program that will then be hosted on her family's all of farm.

Arica Sears  38:16  
Yeah, yeah, that's, it's interesting. I just had a conversation last night with a dairy farmer who is asking the same thing. They're like, we have this land, and we just need to make extra income, you know, in addition to the cows, and they're like, what do you think about putting yurts on some of our properties? And it's right in the Coast Range? So I think this goes back to we were saying earlier that in an international context, a lot of these challenges and ideas are pretty similar.

Jane Connelly  38:45  
Right. And it's and it's the the concept is, you know, just going even a little bit beyond the year, right. So instead of people just saying, maybe they actually want to help make cheese, maybe they want to help farm right, maybe they want to work for a few hours in the farm and then go enjoy, you know, the coastline. I think that there's I think we're moving into a space in tourism, that, that people when they want to start diversifying, that they shouldn't be scared, right, that they can look into doing more than just offering a place to stay.

Arica Sears  39:18  
Right. And I think it's, um, I think this happened with you with Croatia, but explaining to someone and trying to convince them like, yes, they will pay to work with you there.

Oh, yeah, no, we were in Croatia for a week. And it's still they were thinking there's no way there's no way this is possible.

This is insane. They actually said the word volunteer doesn't exist in Croatian.

Just like being like I'm and I'm not joking when I say this, like they just want to collect the eggs from the chickens, you know, pay you But it's cool, you know, especially when the maybe that the agritourism part of it is different than your culture, especially, you know, wineries or, or farming or dairy farming or fishing. I had did an episode, you know, a couple months ago about pesca. Tourism, the idea that tourists want to go be a commercial fisherman for a day. And how are the commercial fishermen roasting thing like, hmm. They're gonna pay us to work. Like, I think people just want a taste of that, especially as maybe we're moving into these more tech jobs and sort of less hands on type of jobs that maybe humans just naturally want to get back to it, you know, and use their hands. I think,

Jane Connelly  40:46  
oh, it is I think it is as simple as that. And then also be with other people, right? So it a lot of times you're with a group of people, whether it's like your own friends or family or you've joined, you know, other travelers or visitors to have this unique experience, whether it's Yeah, picking eggs or fishing or, you know, whatever it might be on a farm. I,

Arica Sears  41:10  
you'll enjoy this when I was in Majorca. My neighbor who lived downstairs, he helped take care of an older man who was a farmer in Majorca. And he would always tell me about him like, Oh, I you know, this is what he told me today is what we did today. And I was like, Can I go with you? Like, can I work on the farm? And he was like, No, why? It's what am I like, come on. I'm from the country like I am like I'm a hillbilly Thursday night in Spanish like, so you want a hillbilly? Everyone's like, What what? And so finally, he took me and this older man was there horrified, horrified. I had been brought like, like this young guys. And he wanted me to sit down and have lemonade and chat. And I was like doing it. And so I ended up like, cutting two rows of this crop and it was pretty easy bend over pull it and like cut it with almost like a machete type of thing. And then both of them are beside themselves. So like no, Erica, sit down on my okay. Okay, so we had a lovely chat, Jane, it was wonderful. And I remember just being like, Oh my gosh, like, I'm an Oregonian. I could not walk for two weeks.

I couldn't walk for for two weeks up my stairs. And but but I just wanted to like a taste like I just want to have that experience in compared to my own here. And to say that had done that and to really connect with somebody in that way. So just kind of mind me with that. They weren't like, oh, shouldn't do it. They're like, this is horrible. Like, we're terrible host. Um, well, yeah, we've we've really explored a lot of topics today that I hope everyone has found interesting, in in many different ways, you know, the benefit to businesses in tourism and destination management in rural areas and connecting and common issues. And because of that, we're excited to announce that Jane and I are exploring an upcoming mini series about just this topic. Yeah, and so still, you know, solidifying kind of who we're going to interview internationally and make some of these comparisons. with Jane Virginian, I was hoping that you could sort of pitch the importance of culinary tourism from an economic perspective, we have a lot of maybe, you know, local government officials in our audience, coastal managers, people that aren't usually as familiar with tourism. So using I think in the past, we've looked at the food monitor report, why should businesses and communities consider culinary tourism?

Jane Connelly  43:47  
Well, first of all, there's a larger economic impact. So research has shown that you have about a 25% increase in spending and economic impact for the destination. The next reason would be that research has shown that seven out of 10 people are now choosing their next travel destination based on its food and drink offering. And as well, you know, so beyond the economics, then you move into the local communities. And we've all we've also seen that focusing on culinary tourism, instead instills a sense of pride in the local community. It preserves and promotes unique local culture. And it's sustainable by design, right? So it's focusing on small businesses, local food, local ingredients, which which is the direction that I mean any destination should be going in in terms of Food and drink? Well, you've convinced me that you're preaching to the choir.

Arica Sears  45:08  
Those are incredible topics and those what you're saying, you know, the is bringing a better visitor, they're spending more money, they're gonna care more. Like, that's what communities want. And that's usually what the biggest issues are that I see with tourism and destination management is, is the way people are traveling. And my destination is the lack of respect, lack of understanding the local dollars that aren't being utilized. So looking at food, tourism, culinary tourism, as sort of the answer to that, it's going to be very interesting for our audience. Um, are there any perceptions that you hope will change via this upcoming mini series on food tourism?

Jane Connelly  45:51  
I mean, I think just reinforcing the concept of In the end, the power of leveraging culinary tourism, it could be from, you know, a small coastal, primarily fishing village, maybe to a larger city or a rural destination, I think that what we'll be able to discover, as you mentioned, are are some comparisons, you know, across destinations, identifying similar challenges, similar opportunities, and hopefully this series will give us the opportunity just to, to open the conversation even more, and, and, and learn from each other.

Arica Sears  46:33  
Yeah, yeah, I agree with that. I think something I'm hoping to, you know, change your perspective on is that you don't need to be a foodie to enjoy culinary tourism. And I feel like a lot of times when you see like an article in a magazine, or maybe like a TV show or something, culinary tourism, sometimes it's kind of like ritzy, or scary or expensive or like you had to go through this fine dining experience. And you get this like tiny item on your plates. And you know, as I've already identified myself as a coastal hillbilly, I have never identified with being a foodie, but I do love being hands on and getting to know people. And I think that food tourism also really connects with outdoor recreation, a lot of the times I'm going to throw around fishing, and so I'm excited to explore that a little bit as well.

Jane Connelly  47:30  
Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Food Tourism does not have to be gourmet does not have to be Michelin star. And it doesn't have to be just, you know, adventure street food eating. It's about discovering what's unique and authentic to the destination, essentially,

Arica Sears  47:48  
had so many images of adventurous we'll save that for the show. Well, any other thoughts or ideas before we before we close up something that we didn't hit on that you you got to get out?

Jane Connelly  48:05  
Not really, I just want to say thank you for having me on and and that I'm really excited for upcoming miniseries.

Arica Sears  48:13  
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Jane Colley for joining us today and sharing your experience as a food tourism and culinary heritage experts. everyone in the audience look forward to seeing this mini series about food tourism and what that means for you and your communities and why you should be considering this if you aren't already. And thanks for listening to big tourism on the American shoreline Podcast Network.

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