Northstar

4 | www.travelweekly-asia.com Ian Jarrett is a widely travelled and experienced writer specialising in hospitality and aviation. His work has appeared in a variety of consumer and travel trade titles, and online newswires. Recent travels have taken him to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Seoul, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom and Bali, although he is just as happy walking with his dog on a local beach. VOICES Food for thought Kazakh culture. From the era when Genghis Khan swept across the steppes, Kazakhstan's nomadic culture has been centred on the horse as a mode of transportation and food. In less than the time it took me to demolish the beshbarmak, I learned much about the history and culture of Kazakhstan. Other countries are responding to the growing demand globally for food and wine as part of the travel experience. Last year, Tourism Australia's 'There's Nothing Like Australia' campaign put the spotlight on Australia's finest produce and the stunning locations where it is served. Food and wine now accounts for one in five dollars spent by international tourists in Australia, while a recent U.S. survey indicated that some 22 million Americans expect to take a culinary-focused vacation in the next 12 months. In San Sebastian, where Michelin stars seem to grow on trees, the enormous contribution of the city's chefs and restaurants to Spanish tourism continues to grow. In Asia, restaurants such as Gaggan and Nahm in Bangkok, Restaurant Andre in Singapore, Amber in Hong Kong and Narisawa in Tokyo – each of them rated among the world's top 50 restaurants in 2017 – are drawing gastro-tourists to the cities where they operate. As the UNWTO conference concluded, the exercise performed by chefs and restaurants projects gastronomic wealth, incorporating the triangle between cuisine, product and territory. "Thus, the inclusion of agricultural and livestock producers, cheese makers, markets, wineries, craftsmen, interpreters of the territory and all those who construct the identity of the place enrich the value of the destination." In the small Basque city of San Sebastian, Spain, last month, UNWTO's World Forum on Gastronomy Tourism reached agreement that in terms of tourist motivations, experiencing gastronomy is now at a similar level to visiting a museum, enjoying music and admiring the architecture of a destination. "In this sense, gastronomy tourism has strong potential to improve destination management, promote cultures and contribute to other sectors such as agriculture and food manufacturing," UNWTO said. The purpose of the conference was to define food tourism and debate the value and future of the industry. One of the conclusions was that only 10% of tourism boards and companies surveyed believe food and beverage offerings have been adequately promoted in their destinations. This, despite general agreement that in the field of communication, gastronomy tourism offers destinations the opportunity to construct a narrative in a more suggestive and emotional way and to reach a much more demanding and hyper-connected customer. For the UN, the unique food of many destinations is regarded as an "intangible cultural asset" unlike those tangible cultural assets we are familiar with, such as a statue or a painting. Today, mostly driven by universal interest in televised cookery shows, tourists are just as likely to seek out a city's top restaurants, as they are its iconic buildings. On a visit to Almaty in Kazakhstan, where the staple food in almost every restaurant is horsemeat, I was cajoled into ordering a plate of a popular Kazakh dish, beshbarmak (boiled horsemeat and noodles). Naturally, during the meal, the conversation turned to the role of horses in CONTENTS 3 TALKING POINT Loyalty not just for pooches 4 VOICES Food for Thought 6 COVER STORY A travel agent's guide to cruises 11 HOSPITALITY Club Med's Chinese adventure takes shape 12 GLOBAL WRAP Best of Travel Weekly Asia's Global Wrap eDaily 14 DESTINATION: HAWAII 5 unique ways to explore Hawaii's underwater world 20 GAME CHANGER Inside the world of Tina Edmondson at Marriott International 21 UNDER MY SKIN Olivier Lenoir, Andaz Singapore Clockwise from top: The sports deck onboard Mariner of the Seas; Sanur beach in Bali; Sarawak's Rainforest World Music Festival 6 18 16

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