Visit Sunshine Coast is shining the spotlight on quality food and producers at the Auckland Food Show from today until Sunday 31 July. The activity aims to lure Kiwis to the region with enticing tucker and is also giving away a Sunshine Coast Foodie Holiday!
New Zealand visitors know all about Sunshine Coast beaches and sunshine but attendance at this show will highlight our food experiences from cooking schools and boutique breweries to award-winning restaurants and local farmers markets.
Acting CEO of Visit Sunshine Coast (VSC) Simon Latchford believes the Sunshine Coast is well positioned to be a market leader in food tourism.
“The region’s producers and dining are an integral part of how we market the Sunshine Coast and we are well placed to capitalise on growing demand from New Zealand travellers for local culinary experiences, as part of their travel. Attending the Auckland Food Show allows us the opportunity to connect with future visitors and share our food stories,” said Mr Latchford
Tourism Australia’s ‘Restaurant Australia’ campaign showed that great food, wine and local cuisine is a major factor in holiday decision making. The challenge however was that for people who have never visited the country, the research showed only 26 per cent associated the destination with good food and wine offering. For those who had visited though, Australia ranked second for its food and wine experiences.
“As per the Tourism Australia campaign, we also aim to narrow the perception gap between those who have visited the Sunshine Coast and been pleasantly surprised by our culinary delights and those who have not and providing yet another reason to visit.
“We are more than just beaches and we have premium food events such as the Noosa Food & Wine, innovative chefs who work and live in the region; a choice of unique and intimate cooking schools and a wealth of local produce from Mooloolaba Prawns fresh off the trawler through to five star restaurants. We want Kiwis to come and sample a taster of the Sunshine Coast,” added Mr Latchford.
Food is one of the key areas for positioning the Sunshine Coast and VSC has also been working on other initiatives including:
- Masterchef New Zealand judge and journalist, Ray McVinnie recently visited the Sunshine Coast and was impressed by the abundance and diversity of food experiences in the region.
- Peter Kuruvita, the Noosa-based chef well known for presenting SBS TV series; My Sri Lanka, Island Feast and Mexican Fiesta will turn the foodie spotlight from his ancestral home in Sri Lanka to his new home on the Sunshine Coast with a brand new television series Peter Kuruvita’s Coastal Kitchen. The six part series, supported by Tourism and Events Queensland in conjunction with VSC, will see the remarkably talented chef meet up with passionate food producers against epic coastal and hinterland backdrops before heading back to his Noosa Beach House restaurant on Hastings Street to create some family-friendly dishes. The series, filmed on location around the Sunshine Coast, is scheduled to air prime time on SBS later this year.
- VSC has produced an updated version of the Sunshine Coast Official Food Guide and this will be distributed at the Auckland Food Show.
The Auckland Food Show is held from 28 July to 31 July at the ASB Showgrounds.
The Official Food Guide can be viewed via http://bit.ly/2a5L7Hn or https://issuu.com/visitsunshinecoast/docs/food-guide
