The initiavite called 'Locallicious: Eat Local, Meet Local' is aiming at promoting local varieties of Thai cuisine and boosting community based tourism. The 20 winning participants of the contest will present their food related trips to judges. The final will take place during the Thailand Food Tourism Mart in September this year. The authors of successful tour products will receive the official permission to sell their gastronomy tours countrywide. Besides featuring local eating habits and signature dishes tours should also contain an educative aspect making the visitors acquainted with culture and traditions of the community or region in focus, as well as supporting locally produced goods.
The TAT expects that the Locallicious campaign will help shift attention to the secondary provinces of Thailand which are now mostly overshadowed by more popular destinations like Phuket, Chiang Mai or Bangkok and do not see large numbers of tourists. Each region and province is unique and food is a great way to learn more about the places you visit and people you meet.
Thailand already offers a lot of opportunities for foodies – from guided market visits to cooking classes and to five star restaurant experience and the new food tour programs will complement the activities on offer for those who do not mind eat like a local and with locals.
A Foodie? Come to Thailand!
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According to the Tourism Association of Thailand, food tourism now forms an essential part of the national tourism plan for 2018–2020. To support the trend, the TAT has launched a special food contest for the tour agencies.