How i said Josep Pla, “The kitchen is the landscape taken to the pot”. Maybe the gastronomic tourism.
In a plate we can admire and understand a territory, its history, its singularities or the climate. Also the know-how of its people and their traditions. The combination of these elements determines the ingredients of the dish of each region.
As well as the culinary techniques and the elaboration processes or even the spaces in which it is cooked, they make gastronomy a perfect exponent of culture.
It is not surprising, therefore, that more and more people are gastronomic tourism. This plays a fundamental role. Getting in some cases to become the absolute protagonist of the trip and conditioning the destination they choose. This is confirmed by the II Study of the demand for gastronomic tourism in Spain. It has been carried out by the specialized consultancy DYNAMIC In collaboration with Tourism of the Community of Madrid and the group Gonzalez Byass.
Gastronomic tourism data
According to this study, 76,2% of national tourists have made a gastronomic trip or getaway in the last two years. Although the degree of influence exerted by the gastronomy in his travels he varies from one to another. For the majority of these tourists (62,4%), the gastronomy greatly influences the choice of destination for your travels.
It is one of the reasons why you make the trip, although not the only one. 28,7% of gastronomic travelers belong to the segment of the demand that we could call 'pure' gastronomic tourists. Due to the high level of influence that the gastronomy he exercises in his travels, he gets to condition the destination they choose.
The gastronomic trips and getaways are usually performed in booths (68,1%). Although trips in family (39,2%), it being common for these trips to be made by car. During these trips, they usually stay in 4-star hotel establishments.
It is important to note that there is a significant percentage of people, specifically 42,6%, who travel during the day. They are nearby national destinations to enjoy gastronomy, which reveals the growing importance of gastronomic tourism.
The habits and preferences of gastronomic tourists vary according to their profile. Within the demand we find foodies, wine-lovers, skylights and gourmets, among others. In general, they make this type of trip because they like to try traditional products and dishes from other places. They consider that gastronomy it is part of the cultural heritage of a place.
The main goal is to eat well
His favorite activities during these trips are eat in restaurants and go for tapas (82,8 and 69,3%, respectively). As well buy local products (62,9%) and visit markets (59,0%) to find out about the gastronomic offer. These usually consult web of opinions and the official website of the destination they are going to visit.
In this regard, it is important to highlight the wide margin for improvement that exists in content creation. These provide useful information to gastronomic tourists.
In the aforementioned study, the Favorite gastronomic regions, provinces and municipalities of the Spanish. A ranking based on the opinions of the more than 1100 people surveyed throughout the national territory.
The favorite is Andalusia
The favorite autonomous community of the Spaniards to make trips and gastronomic getaways is Andalusia. Followed by Galicia y the Basque Country. The Region of Madrid and Principality of Asturias they occupy the fourth and fifth place respectively. In a ranking of communities in which the regions that have a gastronomic culture with its own identity. As well as a varied and quality catering offer.
At the provincial level, Madrid ranks as the favorite gastronomic destination of the Spanish. It is followed by the provinces of Guipúzcoa, Cádiz, Asturias and Pontevedra.
The study also identifies the main gastronomic destinations at the local level. Among which we find provincial capitals and, also, gastronomic regions and municipalities. The city of San Sebastián stands out as the main destination of gastronomic tourism locally. It is followed by the state capital, Madrid.
In third place is the city of Barcelona, Barcelonafollowed by Bilbao and Logroño. Thus, the Top 5 of gastronomic cities is made up of the two large cities of Spain. In them the traveler can find a great variety of establishments with a wide range of restaurants. As well as gastronomic streets and markets.
the Basque Country
Two of the three capitals of Euskadi are world renowned for their gastronomic culture. Logroño It occupies the fifth place influenced by having one of the most emblematic gastronomic streets. Also for the quality of its wines and the products of the Riojan garden.
Other territorial entities that have an immense gastronomic heritage also appear on the list. In this sense, the municipality of Gijón In asturias, O Grove in Pontevedra. The Shire El Bierzo in León, Sanlucar de Barrameda in Cadiz. Llanes in Asturias and Santiago de Compostela, in A Coruña.
In addition to identifying the favorite destinations of Spaniards for gastronomic tourism, the image and positioning. Especially in the autonomous communities, taking into account their gastronomic appeal. It should be noted that all the Spanish regions obtained a score greater than 2,5 on a scale of 4.
Galicia leads the gastronomic attraction
The results place Galicia as the autonomous community with the greatest gastronomic appeal, with 3,71 points out of 4. 66,8% of those surveyed have cataloged the Galician gastronomy as very attractive. They give it the highest score, while 17,5% consider it quite attractive. Only 3,4% have valued Galicia as an unappealing destination. Tstill only 0,3% as not attractive from a gastronomic point of view.
Second, you will find the Basque Country, just 0,06 points behind Galicia. This destination has been rated by 58,7% of those surveyed as very attractive. While 18,4% consider their gastronomy quite attractive.
El Principality of Asturias, with a rating of 3,58 out of 4, it is in third position. It has been considered a very attractive gastronomic destination by 56,5% of those surveyed and quite attractive by the 22,6%.
The frequency of gastronomic trips
Getaways to nearby national destinations are displacements of character gastronomic. These are done more frequently. 38,5% do them monthly and 37,25% do it once per season or season. Longer journeys (long-distance national and international) are usually made once a year.
The exception is trips to national medium-distance destinations, which are visited by most of the gastronomic travelers. At least once a season.
The trips to nearby national destinations are also those that have the shortest duration. 42,6% of trips made to less than 200 km away with the intention of enjoying the gastronomy. These are usually gastronomic excursions in the day (without spending the night).
Duration of these stays
While 46,5% prefer stays of 1 to 2 days. Trips to national medium-distance destinations also usually last between 1 and 2 days (57,4%), and to a lesser extent 3 to 6 days (34,3%). As the distance to the destination increases, the duration of the trips increases. It is common for long-distance journeys to last for 3 to 6 days, and even a week or more.
This way of traveling frequent and short-lived, poses an opportunity for destinations that are working on seasonal adjustment.
So the gastronomic tourism, for the most part, it can be enjoyed throughout the year. The enhancement of the gastronomic heritage also favors the repetition of the trip. Well the gastronomic landscapes They vary in each season, offering tourists the opportunity to live very different experiences in the same destination.
