Essay: Food tourism

According to Merriam-Webster, tourism means “the practice of traveling for recreation.” Today, there are different forms of tourism that caters towards different individuals’ preference, such as, cultural tourism, nature tourism, pleasure tourism, sports tourism, religious tourism, medical tourism, adventure tourism, just to name a few. Food tourism also known as culinary tourism has bloomed over the years and has since been one of the most sought after form of tourism in the industry (UNWTO, 2012). Of course, humans consume food every day to sustain their health or not to go hungry, but why do humans specifically choose to consume cuisines that are not from their native country but other countries’ cuisine that is prepared in their country. Food at a tourism destination are often promoted for any of culinary as a form of attraction which draws tourists or they may be called “foodies” to that country (Noguchi, 1992). The food tourism field is filled with many journals explaining food tourism, culinary tourism and even gastronomic tourism since these three fields of tourism are almost one and the same. Food tourism has been paired together with hospitality for tourists, but was just brought into the research spotlight of the tourism industry until the late 1990s. The relation of food tourism with culinary tourism and gastronomic tourism basically shines a spotlight over experiencing the taste of new cuisines overseas and inadvertently educating tourists about the culture and heritage of that country and their cuisine (Long, 2014). The connection between tourism and various aspects of tourism like art and religion were studied throughout the years by tourism researchers but it has only been recent that tourism and food has been touched upon (Cohen & Avieli, 2004). “Foodies” may also be tempted to try food that is not familiar or in the norm of their culture to consume since they may think it’s adventurous to try unfamiliar or frightening food (Cohen & Avieli, 2004). Culinary tourism basically means travelling to a country with the motivation and interest in a specific country’s food and beverage as well as to have a taste of their cuisine and experiencing foreign food and beverage, travellers with an attempt to find out culinary pleasures throughout the world (Karim et al., 2010). Reynolds (1993) mentioned that there are a few publications and that there are very few specialised studies of tourists eating habits or the change of culinary establishments locally. The basic things that worry tourists when they travel to somewhere not recognisable are of course the weather, where they can stay and visit, health risks, and most definitely the local food. Their constant worry is that will the food harm them in any way or will the local food be pleasant for them (Cohen and Avieli, 2004). Japan and Korea are known as the biggest influences in Asia with the Korean wave booming in the last decade or so and Japanese technology as well as their pop culture. Here in Malaysia, Malaysians can observe that there are many Japanese and Korean restaurants that Malaysians cannot keep up with. There are studies that are down on Japanese tourism, sports tourism, Japanese food service, Korean restaurants, Korean food, and Korean television, but there are none that is done on Japan and Korea side by side and on which country would Malaysians choose as a food destination. People may love eating Japanese & Korean cuisine because they may want to feel close to the culture of both countries, people may watch Korean dramas and Japanese anime and there are dramas and anime which focuses on Japanese & Korean cuisines respectively. This study would find out what factors that make Malaysians want to eat Japanese & Korean cuisine consistently. Food reflects on the culture and history of a country so comparing the cuisines of Japan and Korea, which have similar cuisines with each other given the fact that Korea was under Japan’s rule for some time and both countries are in the Far East. While observing Japanese & Korean restaurants in Malaysia, it is consistently packed with people. A portion of these people may want to visit Japan and/or Korea to experience the local delicacies or may already have visited Japan and/or Korea. From this study, we could find out the connection between Japan and Korea with Malaysia in the middle. This study could let the Ministry of Tourism in Japan and Korea about why Malaysians would want to go to Japan and Korea respectively. It can give more information to them in terms of how they can promote more on their food tourism to other countries. This study can also serve as a guide on the factors of why citizens of other countries may want to visit Japan and Korea. If these Malaysians are not that familiar with the Korean wave or the Japanese pop culture which stands as a motivation to travel over to Japan and Korea, would they want to go to Japan and Korea to try out authentic Japanese and Korean cuisine as oppose to eating Japanese and Korean cuisine that is prepared over here in Malaysia. In future, other countries would want to know which one of these leading Asian countries would their natives choose. Malaysia is known to be a culinary tourism destination, specifically the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Penang and Melaka (UNTWO, 2012). With majority of the Malaysians being Muslim, which one of these countries would they choose to visit if they were to know that specific country has got Halal restaurants for them to be adventurous about in regards to Japanese and Korean cuisine. Comparing to existing studies, there are studies which focuses on food tourism (generally or on a specific country), food festivals, culture and heritage of a country, but there are none that compares two countries as food destination together with the reason why citizens of another food destination would want to travel over to those two countries and which destination would they prefer. To know why would they choose a destination over the other destination.