Turismo & Alimentos

En la nota que pego aquí abajo, el Economist reseña los esfuerzos del gobierno de Nueva Zelandia para convertirse en un destino global para el turismo ¿alimentario? El boom del Señor de los Anillos les permitió dar a conocer su paisajes naturales (y su capacidad para producir blockbusters) y ahora pretenden que sus vinos y alimentos mantengan el envión.

Es una interesante estrategia de diferenciación en el turismo mundial que bien podríamos tener en cuenta. La nota original está ilustrada con una foto del Gandalf de Ian McKellen, pero opté por Los Peques para provocar un poco. ¡Al fin y al cabo, tenemos una Patagonia pletórica en glaciares y exquisiteces ahumadas!


Marketing New Zealand

From fantasy worlds to food

Nov 9th 2006 | NELSON AND WELLINGTON

From The Economist print edition

New Zealand is promoting itself as a destination for food tourists

AT THE Lodge at Paratiho Farms in Nelson, lambs and chickens frolic outside while the head chef, Angela Bone, prepares for the morning cooking class. Today's spring menu: Portobello mushroom and Kumara soup, salmon cakes with asparagus and lemon compote. Ms Bone has never been busier. “Students finally want recipes suiting our seasons, culture and tastes, not emulating food abroad,” she says.

For decades New Zealand's food was dire, with a heavy reliance on boiled vegetables, under-seasoned meats and stodgy cakes. All this has changed. Now a huge number of New Zealanders identify themselves as “foodies” and seek out fresh, local produce. Cooking classes are trendy, New Zealand's wines are hailed at global contests such as the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and its honey, cheeses and breads sell well both locally and abroad. Investors are noticing too. In September Cerebos-Gregg's, a Japanese-owned firm, bought Caffe L'affare, a specialty coffee-roaster based in Wellington, for NZ$25m ($16.7m). And last week Bacardi, a drinks firm, made a formal NZ$137m cash offer for 42 Below, a luxury vodka brand that trades on New Zealand's reputation for purity.

New Zealand famously promoted itself as a tourist destination using the dramatic landscapes seen in “The Lord of the Rings” films. Now that the magic has faded, it has started emphasising its food and wines in addition to its natural beauty. One approach is to reach out to potential visitors in other foodie hubs. At last year's “Maori Art Meets America” event in San Francisco, New Zealand pinot noirs, breads, meats and cheeses were served. “All this helps grow the food and wine sector tremendously,” says George Hickton of Tourism New Zealand. Michael Hall, professor of tourism at the University of Canterbury, predicts that saffron, walnuts, truffles and olive oils will be the next Kiwi foods to be marketed abroad in an effort to develop food tourism.

Since 2003 tourism has replaced dairy agriculture as New Zealand's largest source of foreign earnings. But there is a potential problem with marketing New Zealand on the basis of freshness and purity: the growing concern over the pollution caused by long-haul flights. Ominously, such concerns are likely to be particularly acute among foodies.