Destinations try to build a brand with culinary tourism

In 2005, the tourism body for Providence, Rhode Island, discovered that it desperately needed a brand refresh and successfully turned itself into a New England culinary hub with chefs and new restaurants concepts attracting visitors for foodie trips. Now, a decade later, Providence is realizing that food alone isn’t enough to build a long-term tourism brand. The Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau commissioned a study in 2005 that found that the city ranked seventh out of ten of New England cities for quality restaurants. It decided to develop a culinary brand given the area’s abundance of seafood, fresh produce, young talented chefs coming to the region, and Johnson & Wales University’s culinary program. It started by…READ MORE.