With the opening of the New York State Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua this past June, the Finger Lakes Region is all “a-buzz” with plans to develop culinary tourism. Culinary tourism is a hot, new niche in cultural travel that blends food, beverages (particularly wine) and travel into a unique visitor experience that holds huge potential for development in the Finger Lakes tourism industry. Simply put, food and beverage are attractions just like a museum or an amusement park and thus can be marketed as a product that helps to differentiate businesses, regions and individual destinations. Moreover, it is available year-round, in any weather and at (almost) any time of the day.

“Can you recommend a good place to eat?” is the number one question that most visitors ask. Food is part of a culture, and visitors want to experience that culture wherever they travel. In particular, they want a unique and memorable experience. In Boston, they want to eat baked beans, in Maine it's lobster, in New Orleans it's beignets; the list goes on and on.

In the Finger Lakes, it's our famous Rieslings, corn-on-the cob, apple cider, salt potatoes, maple syrup and other uniquely Finger Lakes products. The variety is vast and not only includes restaurant offerings, but the fresh produce found at our farmer's markets, prepared foods such as New Hope Mills pancake mix, wine and beer, gourmet shops and spa cuisine. Culinary tourism in the Finger Lakes is diverse and far-reaching.

So, who are these culinary tourists and what do they want? Age does not matter, nor does race. Their critical commonality is their vitality and active lifestyle. They have a high disposable income and are willing to spend it on quality. However, they also expect value and that value is often in the experience - the memories that they create on vacation.

But, more importantly, what do they want? They want a dining “experience,” which includes a unique venue and menu, memorable service and setting, and for those that really have it right, a hands-on opportunity such as a demonstration, special event, or product sampling, brings the whole meal to another level. Think of dining as theater and you'll understand culinary tourism.

We, in the Finger Lakes, are particularly fortunate because we have the romance of wine as part of our culinary tourism product. With so many facets to the wine industry, a visit to a winery can be a total culinary package in itself. Visitors can tour the winery and see winemaking, meet the winemaker who is a kind of “celebrity” in his/her own right, visit the gift shop, buy food if there is a restaurant on site, tour the grounds and attend special events. It's easy to see that wineries are a primary lure for our culinary tourists.

This all sounds simple, but the devil is truly in the details: food quality, menu, consistency of message, and most of all, service, are a must. As Regynald Washington, vice president and general manager of Disney Regional Entertainment said, “Good service can save a bad meal, but a great meal cannot save bad service.” Food service personnel are key tourism ambassadors as they can spend a good two to three hours serving a meal and interacting with visitors. We need to value these folks and invest in their training, not only in food service but also in their knowledge of the area. A successful culinary tourism program takes vision, good products, education and partnerships between agriculture, restaurants, media and tourism marketing organizations. The Finger Lakes certainly has the “seeds,” and the “harvest” is just around the corner!

Meg Vanek is the executive director of the Cayuga County Office of Tourism