Introduction
Australia is famous for its cuisine, and every year it welcomes thousands of tourists from all parts of the world who want to become aquatinted with the country’s most iconic food. According to official statistics, in 2017 alone, the spending on food and wine by international tourists in Australia accounted for more than five billion dollars (“Food and wine,” n.d.). There are also annual festivals which take place in different regions of Australia which promote the produce of local farmers and the Orange F.O.O.D Week (Food of Orange District) festival is one of them. As the oldest regional gastronomic festival, the Orange F.O.O.D Week presents an interesting case for analyzing the strategies it employs and the issues it faces.
Overview of the Event
The Orange F.O.O.D Week has been in existence for several decades, and it is still considered to be among the most popular regional food events in the country. Orange District, the place where the festival is held, is known for its vineyards and premium quality wine, as well as restaurants (“Orange,” 2019). In 2021, the creators of the Orange F.O.O.D Week once again hosted the festival, which lasted ten days and marked the thirtieth anniversary of the event. Essentially the idea behind the festival is to celebrate food and wine produced in the region by bringing both residents and tourists together. Farmers get to showcase their produce while restaurateurs, chefs, and caterers can find new suppliers for their companies. The notion of provenance is integral for the festival. Provenance refers to the origin of a particular object or phenomenon, and in this case, it is of food and wine of the Orange Region.
The festival of 2021 included numerous events ranging from a long table lunch to an art exhibition. Demonstration and tasting events are at the center of the festival. For instance, the audience could observe the process of making fermented drinks and try some raw probiotic liquids (“Fermentation,” n.d.). The local restaurants also participate in the festival and create their own F.O.O.D. Week Menus which include dishes made of ingredients sourced from the regional producers and farmers. Shinning the Light on Local Producers is another program during the festival which includes several events dedicated to promoting local farming. Argyle Saffron is one of the participants, a company which grows saffron in Orange (“Shining,” n.d.). Additionally, there is Sampson Street Long Lunch, a lunch together with famous people from the local gastronomic scene. The festival also held several signature events, which usually take place every year and have become traditions. One of the main ones is Forage which is a four-kilometer stroll through Orange vineyards.
Over the past five years, the festival has demonstrated steady growth and development despite the recent pandemic, which forced the organizers not to host the event in 2020. There is no data yet available on the number of attendees of the 2021 event, yet the information on the pre-pandemic situation shows that the festival had been gaining new participants every year. In 2019, the number of people who attended six main events rose by 4% compared to the previous year (Orange F.O.O.D, 2019). In 2016, the government of New South Wales signed a deal with All Nippon Airlines to promote international travel to the festival for the first time (Destination NSW, 2017). This fact shows how important F.O.O.D. Week is for the local economy and how its international popularity is growing. One important matter which has to be mentioned is the fact that in 2017 the festival started following global-standard ISO 20121, requirements to improve the sustainability of events, and received official certification as an event which upholds sustainable management practices. The decision by the festival to achieve the goal of making its operations sustainable is a response to the growing trend of eco-consciousness and environmental accountability.
Strategies Employed by the Festival
The festival’s organizers employ a variety of strategies to promote the Orange Region as the ultimate destination for local and international tourists who want to have an excellent gastronomic experience. As it was mentioned before, the Orange Region has numerous vineyards and wineries which produce premium wine and other types of drinks. Creating an environment for people to experience the true quality of the farmers’ produce and Orange’s breath-taking landscapes has been the core strategy of the festival. Forage, the signature event of the festival, combines both tasting local food and wine and observing the nature of the Orange Region by walking through vineyards.
Another strategy of the festival is providing the attendees with the authentic atmosphere of Orange’s gastronomic scene. This strategy is consistent with the World Tourism Organization’s (2019) recommendations on the development of local gastronomic tourism. For example, in 2021, the festival featured Beer Tasting at the local pub Beekeepers Inn, as an event where guests could taste local handcrafted beer which has been brewed there from 1859 (“Beer,” n.d.). Another strategy used by the festival to enhance Orange Region’s branding as the place for gastronomic tourism is encouraging both domestic and international guests to learn about the local culinary scene. The festival’s website has a page dedicated to all the food and wine industry’s key players of the Orange Region, where every person can access information on these companies. Thus, through this directory, people who are considering visiting the Orange Region can discover that the local gastronomic scene has a lot to offer.
While the strategy concerning the provision of authentic experience of Orange Region and its food and wine is mostly targeted at foreign tourists. To attract locals or people from other parts of Australia, the organizers engage in the strategy of promoting the festival as a place where people can socialize while enjoying local food and wine. The aforementioned Sampson Street Long Lunch is an example of an event where people can talk to other individuals, both old friends and new acquaintances, over a meal made of locally produced products. This strategy ultimately seeks to establish a connection in the minds of the attendees between Orange Region’s food and wine and their personal moments of joy and happiness.
Issues Affecting the Future of Gastronomic Tourism in Orange Region and Worldwide
When developing a development strategy for a regional food festival, it is essential to take into consideration all possible issues which may affect the success of the event. Issues concerning economic, environmental, social, and political factors play a major role in the world and food festivals, including Orange F.O.O.D. Week, have to be able to respond to them.
The primary economic issue which has a significant capacity to impact the future of gastronomic tourism and the Orange Region is a considerable drop in consumer purchasing power due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdowns which continue to take place in countries worldwide have impaired the financial stability of millions of people who lost their jobs or experienced large cuts in their pay. This situation has negatively impacted individuals’ ability to travel since now they have to attend to more essential expenses. According to some estimates, a drop in tourist activity in June 2021 will be more than fifty percent compared to December 2019 (Fotiadis, Polyzos. & Hua, 2019). There is a high probability that many potential guests of Orange F.O.O.D. Week did not attend the event in 2021 and are likely not to be present for the 2022 festival due to financial constraints caused by the pandemic.
Environmental concerns have been on a global agenda for the past several years and now are addressed at all levels, from local to governmental. The primary issue related to the environment which directly affects the future of gastronomic tourism is climate change. This problem poses a threat to the sustainability of international farming since unpredictable changes in weather patterns can damage crops and reduce the volume of produced crops. For instance, researchers discovered that in Australia, climate change caused a reduction in barley, maize, and wheat yields (Ray et al., 2010). The issue of climate change, if left unresolved, can negatively affect the gastronomic tourism industry by making farming financially unsustainable and thus undermining the current diversity of food produced in different countries. In the worst-case scenario, the climate may make only a limited number of regions on the planet viable places for growing crops.
Social issues are of equal importance as both of the previously mentioned ones, and global providers of gastronomic tourism have to consider them when planning their events. The issue which potentially threatens the success of the gastronomic tourism industry in the near future is the change in the customers’ preferences. After the pandemic, people may decide to opt for traditional tourism destinations, namely resorts by the sea, where they can simply enjoy sunshine and rest. Gastronomic tourism is still a niche product since it usually focuses only on food and wine. There is a chance that people who spent a year in a lockdown will not be likely to go to Australia to try produce of Orange Region’s farmers and instead will choose to go to Greece or any other traditional tourism destination.
The most significant political issue faced by the gastronomic tourism industry today is the introduction of travel restrictions by governments worldwide. Despite the mass vaccination efforts, there is still a possibility of another wave of the pandemic. In this case, nations will be likely to once again close their borders which will inevitably impact the gastronomic tourism industry, which is dependent on foreign guests. Yet, states also can close their borders, and the Orange Region, which benefits greatly from people who go there from all parts of the world and Australia to enjoy local food and wine, can considerably be harmed by such government policies.
Emerging Consumer Trends and Possible Responses to Them
As with any industry, gastronomic tourism is susceptible to changing trends which enable all stakeholders to adjust to new circumstances. Companies which operate in the food and drink industry have to respond to consumer demands to stay competitive. One of the main emerging trends which affect the behavior of consumers in relation to food and gastronomic experience is the growing popularity of “foodstagramming” (Schimperna, Lombardi, & Belyaeva, 2020). Essentially, people today love to share photos of their food online on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. This is an exceptional tool for increasing the popularity of gastronomic places such as restaurants and even geographical regions since one good photo can be viewed by millions of people worldwide. To respond to the trend of “foodstagramming,” Orange Food Week can feature a list of the most scenic places in the Orange Region and set up small areas there for people who want to dine and take photos of their food with exciting views in the background.
Another trend which is gradually gaining traction is wellness. Specifically, more people are wishing to consume products which possess functional health benefits, namely, food and drinks which are packed with nutrients (“5 global,” 2020). Orange F.O.O.D. Week has plenty of good food, but the festival does not position itself as an event promoting healthy eating. Yet, to take advantage of this trend, the festival can feature an event which will involve listing to the audience all of the health benefits of consuming food produced in the Orange Region. The attendees of this event can then tell about it to their friends who will become interested in visiting the Orange Region, which has an extensive selection of healthy-food producers.
Conclusion
The Orange F.O.O.D Week is a unique gastronomic event in Australia which promotes the Orange Region’s food and wine producers. In 2021, the festival celebrated its 30 anniversary and hosted a variety of events, such as the Forage and Shinning the Light on Local Producers. Before the pandemic, the festival demonstrated steady growth in the number of attendees and received certification for its sustainability efforts. The main strategy used by the event concerns creating an environment where its guests can enjoy Orange Region’s food and wine. The festival, as a part of the global gastronomic tourism industry, faces several issues which mainly concern the COVID-19 pandemic effects on the economy and behavior of people and governments. To be able to better respond to new consumer trends, the festival has to provide its attendees with a list of the most exciting place in the Orange Region for them to take photos and share them on social media. Additionally, the organizers can introduce events which promote the health advantages of consuming Orange Region’s food.
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