Reason 4 - Food is a motivator, feed their appetites!

We thought we would take this opportunity to share what we, the team at The Marketing Collective, enjoy about working in tourism and how we’re championing the industry.

Reason 4 - Food is a motivator, feed their appetites!

We've all heard the expression that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach, well this is actually true for most of us - whether we like to admit is or not! Food is a real motivator and can affect people's decisions on what they will do with their day and where they will visit.It can be as simple as there being nearby restaurants and cafes to keep them fuelled whilst they are out and about, or knowing there is somewhere to enjoy lunch whilst at an attraction. It could simply be the reason they are heading out in the first place.Throughout our Guest Guides and The Southampton Pocket Guide publications, food plays an active role in emphasising why tourists should visit that destination. With a mix of adverts and first had reviews of the local restaurants and cafes, to really showcase what's available.Reviews are a great way to promote venues to potential visitors by showcasing what they offer in a more descriptive way. Many venues these days do offer more to make the visit more of an experience. We have recently been working with the Ideal Collection and have reviewed their restaurants based in Southampton and Winchester. These are great examples of how they've used creative menus and created the right atmosphere in each restaurant to give the diner a real experience. Just take a look at our review for the Ideal Collections White Horse Village Inn and No.5 Bridge Street.We've also noticed that people often feel they need an excuse to eat out, like they need to justify doing so. This can often be linked to a special occasion like Mother's Day or Valentines Day. With our client Keats Restaurant in Romsey, we always try to link their menus and social media activity with upcoming events.Nowadays with popular TV shows Masterchef and The Great British Bake Off, we have all become foodies (even more so) and tourism in the food industry is definitely on the up. Getting people to interact on social media by checking into your restaurant or sharing a photo of their meal on Instagram is a great way to get the word spread. Just take a look at our Instagram of our review site The Kit and Kaboodle.

Here's some top tips for food marketing:

• Be more creative with your menu and food presentation
• Tie your menu's in with special events
• Make the whole visit an experience for your diners
• Get a professional review to really describe what you offer
• Work with shops and attractions local to you to see if you can collaborate
• Use foodie images on social media

We love food here at The Marketing Collective and are pleased to see it gaining it's rightful place in the tourism market.