Scotland’s Taste for Tourism

by Bruce McMichael

taste-logo-460x250Young people with a taste for Scotland’s food and drink and a passion for promoting Scottish food and drink to the world are being invited to enter a competition for the chance to address delegates at a major conference designed to bring food tourists to Scotland.

The Taste for Tourism conference in Oban this November aims to catapult Scotland to the top of the wish list for tourists who see high quality food and drink as the main reason to travel.

The event will bring together food producers, caterers and travel firms to create more mouth-watering attractions and brand Scotland as a food destination.

There they will be given the opportunity to join a panel of experts wRasps-and-oats-copyho will lead the discussion on how to best promote Scotland as a food tourism destination in front of an audience of food producers, tourism businesses, tour operators, agencies and media.

The winner will be given the chance to join industry experts James Withers, CEO, Scotland Food & Drink and Marc Crothall, CEO, Scottish Tourism Alliance, to put forward their opinions and expertise on how to shape the future of Scotland’s food and drink and tourism sectors.

Under 30s with a passion for Scotland’s food, drink, landscape and heritage are invited to enter the competition by emailing info@tastefortourism.scot explaining a little bit about themselves, including their name, date of birth and where they are based, and what they would like to present to delegates, in no more than 250 words.

Fiona Richmond, project manager, Scotland Food & Drink, said: “The Taste for Tourism conference will explore ways of capitalising on Scotland’s strong food heritage and excellent produce to promote food destination tourism”.

The event will bring together food producers, tourism businesses, tour operators, agencies and the media to learn about each other and discuss ways of further developing food tourism in Scotland. It takes place in Oban, Argyll, on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of November, 2015.

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Bruce McMichael

Food writing, discovering food stories, meeting producers, chefs and food enthusiasts are all part of desire to inspire, inform my readers and fellow food lovers. I am a freelance writer, journalist and published author focusing on the international world of food and drink, culture and travel. In 2019 I graduated from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy with a Masters in Food Culture, Communication and Marketing. I am now a visiting Professor at the university teaching Food & Drink Writing. Based in London I travel widely, particularly across western Europe. I have chaired many conferences and meetings, spoken at conferences and events and often appear on radio and TV talking most about food, the business of food and being an entrepreneur. In 2017 I won an episode of the ITV (the UK-based national television channel) cooking competition show, 'Gordon Ramsay's Culinary Genius'. I took my children on holiday to Sicily with the prize money. As an experienced farmers' market manager and operator of a small marmalade/ preserves company, I am very familiar with the issues surrounding local food, farming, enterprise and the environment.