Food Draws Tourists

The Travel Industry Association completed its first large survey to determine the market for "culinary tourism."

The results confirm the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau's pursuit of these tourists and investment in Restaurant Week, a promotion of local fine dining that was held for the first time last May.

The survey last summer of 2,364 leisure travelers found that food or wine were a reason to travel or helped determine the destination for just less than 8 percent, or 12.6 million people.

That's a small but potentially lucrative market. Most likely to participate in the future were people with post-graduate educations and a household income of $100,000 or more.

The culinary traveler is also more active than other leisure travelers. They were more likely to check out cultural attractions, spas, parks and historic sites.

Kathleen McLaughlin