Authentic Products and Gastronomy: Engine of Tourism
The photo of Cambodian cuisine was taken at the Khmer food fair in Battambang in December 2023.
- By Cambodianess
- February 11, 2024 10:15 AM
Discovering local flavors is a privileged gateway to the authenticity of a culture, mentions the Tourism-Insider Online magazine in an article on the impact of gastronomy on cultural tourism. According to a study of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the article read, nearly 88 percent of the travelers consider gastronomy as a key factor of the touristic experience. The typical dishes, ancestral culinary techniques and local products constitute an immaterial heritage that is captivating for the gourmets of the whole world, according to the article.
One other piece of information reported in the blog: according to the Association des Gastronomies Européennes (association of European Gastronomies), food and drink expenses amount to approximately 25-to-30 percent of travelers’ total budgets. These data reflect the strategic importance of cuisine in the development of local tourism and the attractiveness of destinations, the article states. Gastronomy not only pleases the senses, but it is also an important economic engine, the author of the blog stresses.
Cambodia can only be happy with this trend, the more so, the blog reads, that the cuisines of the world arouse travelers’ curiosity. And not only the cuisines of top chefs, the blog points out, but also street food that highlights authentic dishes, often prepared right in front of passers-by while local markets offer an immersion into the diversity of regional products and culinary traditions, and chefs’ cooking classes and workshops enable not only to learn to cook but also to understand local culture.
Moreover, Tourism Insiders has noted that sustainable gastronomic tourism is growing: In the context in which 73 percent of world travelers state the importance of finding options of sustainable travel, the culinary stop is no exception, according to Booking.com. From now on, tourists are seeking sustainable gastronomy, favoring establishments taking part in the protection of the environment and getting involved in the local equitable economy, Booking.com states.
At the end of 2023, within one month, no less than three international awards put the spotlight on Cambodian gastronomy. UNESCO put Battambang in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, designating it as a creative city of gastronomy. And two cookbooks, “Sayo, Royal Cambodian Home Cuisine” and “The Taste of Angkor,” won awards at the Gourmand International, World Cookbook Awards event that took place during the World Cookbook Fair in Saudi Arabia in December 2023.
In March 2024, Chef Nak, author of the cookbook “Sayo, Royal Cambodian Home Cuisine,” will hold a Khmer cuisine contest to promote the rich Khmer culinary tradition and give local chefs the opportunity to express their talent as well as prompt discussions, inspire creativity and show the local potential.
As the World Tourism Organization expects world tourism to reach in 2024 pre-COVID-19-pandemic level, it is more than ever time for Cambodia to put forward the Khmer culinary heritage and the country’s authentic products to show that Angkor’s fabulous temples are not the only riches of the country.
