Tourism industry satisfies hunger for culinary events

By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer

Lynn Shea has been to Hawai'i at least two dozen times, and she really didn't feel like packing to accompany her husband on a recent business trip to the Islands. But the ad in her favorite cooking magazine tilted the scales.

Lynn Shea, right, participated in a Halekulani culinary workshop last year with Chef Bernard Le Prince, who is making a point to the entire class. Photo courtesy of the Halekulani

Shea and a powerful but uncounted number of people like her make up a rapidly emerging group of sought-after travelers: "Foodies."

They come, they see, they eat, and they spend lots of money doing it.

As people have less time to pursue their hobbies, The Travel Industry Association of America says that educational travel of all kinds has become increasingly important, with about one-fifth of all U.S. travelers — or about 30 million people in the past three years — taking a trip specifically to improve a skill, sport or hobby.

Specific numbers on food-related travel and the revenue it generates are hard to come by. But as the hard-hit tourism industry looks for ways to boost business, niche travelers such as foodies have become increasingly important. And advertisements in any glossy travel, food or even high-end general interest magazine hint at the trend: cook for a week in Provence, shop with the chef in Tuscany, learn about the perfect pandang in Bangkok.

A survey by Gourmet magazine, the 60-year-old authority on food and travel, says these vacationers travel more, do more, and spend more than the average traveler. Conducted by PLOG Research, the study last year said subscribers to the magazine spent about 40 percent more than other travelers on their last vacation for travel basics like shopping, meals, and lodging.

This group reported a median spending on vacation travel in the past year of $5,850, about 14 percent more than other travelers.

But even more interesting, says the magazine's executive director of marketing, John Keane, was the strong interest in food among respondents who are not professed foodies, in other words, the general traveling public.

"This is a trend that is feeding into the popular culture now, this food-travel connection," he said. "It's not restricted to only a certain tiny segment of the population. People are really looking at cuisine as a key part of their trip."

And as America's interest in food has grown, Hawai'i has sought to tap it. The Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau, as well as individual restaurants, chefs and hotels, have tried to raise awareness of Hawai'i's particular cuisine though Mainland tours that highlight local chefs and public relations efforts that feature them in places like the Food Network.

High-profile events such as the Big Island's annual "Cuisines of the Sun" have inspired new festivals and workshops meant to draw the food-frenzied to Hawai'i, and to give average visitors more to do here.

"It opens another door to a group of people who travel," said Gail Chew, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau. "It gives us an added dimension as a destination, added appeal, unique appeal."

The Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel launched the first of what it plans to be an annual food and wine festival this past October, and hotel executives said they were overwhelmed by the response. A $195-a-head tasting session of rare champagnes sold out, as well as several other pricey events, from a clientele that was almost solely local, said hotel spokeswoman Debora Bridges. This year was planned too late to grab for the Mainland market, Bridges said, but next year the hotel will target a large national audience.

"We wanted to do something on this island," Bridges said. "There's a tremendous amount of interest in that. And we said 'Why doesn't O'ahu do that?' We've got the big city and all the fine restaurants."

The Halekulani has held the cooking classes Shea attended for six years, bringing chefs from the Cordon Bleu School in Paris and from famous French hotels to offer instruction and prepare special menus for its restaurant Le Mer. Maui has the popular Kapalua Wine and Food Festival, which has been around for 21 years, and The Kea Lani Food and Wine Masters at The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui, as well as various other eat-and-greet events. The 12-year-old Cuisines of the Sun at the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel draws more than 300 afficionados to the Big Island each year to eat, drink, cook and schmooze among some of the best chefs from the Islands and around the world.

"When I started in (public relations) in Hawai'i 15 years ago people were eating lu'au food," said Diana Moody, vice president of accounts at Sheila Donnelly and Associates, which represents the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. "The cuisine of Hawai'i has evolved so much it was a given that events like this would happen. It was a market that Hawai'i really hadn't targeted before."

Hawai'i got on the food traveler's map a decade ago when 12 chefs created Hawaii Regional Cuisine, marked by its fusion of Pacific and Hawai'i flavors and the use of local fish and produce. Over the years, the world has come to know about Hawai'i's special culinary twists through public relations efforts and restaurants such as Roy's, which chef Roy Yamaguchi has expanded to more than a dozen cities, including some in Japan and Guam. And late last year, Hawai'i was featured as one of only six U.S. regions recognized as having a distinct cuisine at the grand opening of the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts in Napa Valley.

"There's tremendous recognition of our cuisine, our chefs, our products," Chew said.

Experts are divided on whether high-spending speciality travelers will be the stalwarts after Sept. 11. Some argue that people who may be feeling guilty about relaxing and having a good time, will feel justified making a trip if its for some specific, educational purpose. But others say that as people take fewer trips, the specialty interest that costs a lot of money may be passed up for a comforting week at the beach with family.

"It could take a hit because people are scaling back right now, they're staying closer to home," said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman for the Travel Industry Association of America. "And people tend to return to tradition in times of stress.

"And if you're cutting back on your vacations, and every year you go to the beach with friends and family, maybe you're going to choose that over something else. But on the other side, you could see a trend of people doing more of these intimate little getaways. It's really hard to say."

Travelers on an endless quest for the perfect olive, the most authentic tortilla, the lightest gnocchi, say it is about more than heeding tastebuds. It is about finding a window to the culture that transcends language and other barriers.

"We go to a place to experience the culture and part of the culture is the food," said Michael Reese, California-based author of the food-travel Web site www.foodandwineaccess.com, who attended Kahala's first festival. "You get to know the people through their food and wine."