Gastronomical Tourism
Peru delights gastronomical tourists
LIMA - There are already quite a number of theme tours in the category of cultural tourism; eco-tourism is a popular example.
The Peruvians, however, have come up with an unusual variation: gastronomical tourism. Gastronomical tourism will boost the country's tourism sector, which is well-known for its archaeological and historical interest.
"The gastronomical tourism will be consolidated this year," Peru's Tourism Minister Martin Perez declared. "We could magnify it by linking archaeological (tourism) and historical tourism to gastronomy."
Peru, whose cuisine is considered one of the most diverse in the world, is to invite tourists to taste the various Peruvian dishes apart from visiting the museums.
Though the Peruvian cuisine is acclaimed as being on a par with the French, Chinese and Indian cuisines, foreign visitors normally do not come to Peru to sample its cuisine.
The minister said that gourmet tourists increased by 25 percent in the past year despite the global economic crisis and the swine flu. In the past year, most foreign gourmets came from Chile, Ecuador and Colombia.
So the country is working out new strategies to benefit from this increased interest in food tourism.
Thanks to its pre-Inca and Inca heritages and its Spanish, African, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French and British immigrants, Peru's cuisine combines the flavors of four continents.
The country now boasts more than 2,000 types of soups and more than 250 traditional desserts, apart from thousands of dishes.
Typical Peruvian dishes of anticuchos, ceviche, humitas and pachamanca are sure to eventually top taste lists of foreign gourmets.
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