There are more than a million people around the world who travel to other countries in order to learn how to cook their typical dishes and have culinary and wine experiences. With the Algarve Cooking Vacations project, presented this Tuesday, in Faro, the Tourism Region, the Algarve Tourism Association and the Tertúlia Algarvia want some of them to start coming to Algarve lands as well.
The concept has been around for a long time, and this is a well-established tourist product in countries such as France and Italy: tourists buy travel packages based on culinary learning experiences, wine tasting and contact with producers, but which «include everything », from accommodation and transfers, to complementary activities, linked to heritage, culture and leisure.
As a rule, these packages, which range from 3 to 15 days, are sold at prices well above a “normal” holiday. In the case of the Algarve, the idea is to bet «on programs with a duration of 3 to 5 days», although the possibility of offering products with a longer duration is not ruled out.
First of all, it is necessary to «learn how to play this game», as he illustrated to Sul Informação João Amaro, from Tertúlia Algarvia, a restaurant and gastronomic dissemination space located in Vila-Adentro de Faro. And this is where Algarve Cooking Vacations comes in, a two-year project co-financed by the European Union, under the CRESC Algarve 2020 Operational Program, which provides for a study on this market niche, the realization of workshops training with international experts, the creation of programs/routes, the publication of a cookbook and the internal and external promotion of this new product.
The first step, according to João Amaro, will be the elaboration of a study, in which an attempt will be made to understand what already exists in the region and what still needs to be done, so that the Algarve can be sold as a culinary tourism destination. Also at an early stage, two workshops themes, one on culinary tourism and the other on wine tourism, to which national and international experts in these activities will be invited.
The partners of this project expect to have the first programs and routes “on the street” “in the autumn of next year”, according to João Amaro. And although there is, for now, no concrete idea of what its content and price will be, it is safe to say that, at some point in the experience, tourists will have contact with the typical cataplana.
This is, moreover, the re-edition of a partnership between Tertúlia Algarvia, RTA and ATA, which had already joined together to boost the Cataplana Algarvia project, which, in the view of the person responsible for the Faro restaurant space, «had very good results. Good".
To some extent, Cooking Vacations can be seen as a continuation of Cataplana Algarvia, although the premise of this new project is much more ambitious. «The Algarve Cataplana turned out to be the inspiration. This experience served to gain confidence for this new project», illustrated João Amaro.
The big difference is that, while the project that focused on the art of cataplana cooking (which proved to be very popular) and the offers created as a result of it are aimed at «tourists who are already in the region», in the case of Cooking Vacations, to make them leave the house on purpose to come to the Algarve for a cooking holiday.
Achieving this may not be a very easy task, as there is strong competition and countries that are already leading in this matter, such as France and Italy. Hence, this is a project with a considerable investment, of 500 thousand euros, with 60 percent reimbursement by European Union funds. «As you can see, there is a strong financial effort by the partners here», stressed João Amaro.
«This partnership is part of our strategy to promote the region, especially in low season. It is an activity that is successful in several countries: people buy trips to discover the products, recipes and wines of a region. In other words, they go to places specifically to experience what is good there», explained the president of the Algarve Tourism Region Desidério Silva.
For these tourists, the main motivation for leaving home and traveling to another country or region is cooking and oenology. This does not mean that the days are exclusively dedicated to these activities. “People can then enjoy other offers, whether linked to heritage, culture, golf or other activities they want to do. But the main objective is to get to know the products, the knowledge and taste the flavors», added Desidério Silva.
Despite not being a mass tourism niche, this is seen as an opportunity for the Algarve to attract new tourists and retain them, while fighting seasonality. According to João Amaro, «these are activities that will take place, mainly, in Autumn and Spring». There is also the expectation of selling programs that take place in winter, but not very high.
A universe of one million tourists may seem small, considering the global number of people traveling for leisure, but where the Algarve wants to enter. “It's a very interesting niche. Here we have very close source markets that already have a strong capacity, such as the French, Dutch and Spanish. And there are also the United States of America, Canada and Brazil. From the moment we can get a thousand, two thousand or three thousand of these tourists, we are adding to what the region already produces», illustrated Desidério Silva.
Especially because those who travel with this motivation have, as a rule, «high purchasing power».
The Cooking Vacations project will have a strong promotional and publicity component, largely under the responsibility of RTA and ATA, which will show this new product at the main national and international tourism fairs. Tertúlia Algarvia will have a more technical role, oriented initially towards knowledge and, later, towards the creation of programs and routes, as well as content.
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